John Boyd

John Wesley Boyd, Jr. resides in Boydton, Virginia. He is a fourth-generation farmer, civil rights activist and the founder of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA). He owns/operates a 1500-acre farming operation growing soybean, corn, wheat and produce in addition to raising beef cattle, American Guinea Hogs, Nigerian Goats & Chickens. For 14 years Boyd was a chicken farmer in a Perdue Farms breeder program. He was also a tobacco farmer for many years. He formed the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), a national non-profit organization, in the early 1990’s. In his role with the NBFA, Boyd has worked closely with national leaders in government, agriculture organizations and rural groups nationwide as well as internationally. In 2000, Boyd was the Democratic nominee for election to Virginia’s 5th congressional district. Boyd was named ABC World News Tonight’s Person of the Week on Friday, November 21, 2003. The next year he was featured in the CBS Evening News Eye on America report. And he has appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Nightline, CNN and other television networks. He has been named one of the “100 Most Influential Black Americans and Organization Leaders” by Ebony magazine several times. He has been featured in Jet magazine numerous times. Boyd’s farm is featured in the History Channel docu-series The American Farm.

Beating the odds as an African-American Farmer, John Boyd of Virginia is an American success story.

Keynote

Tracing the Roots of Black Agriculture