Letter to the Editor: Valley Link Threatens Generations of Farming

To the Editor,

This is my family’s story. I know there will be many people affected by the proposed Valley Link transmission lines, and each will have their own story to tell. This one is ours.

My husband’s grandfather began farming this land in the early 1900s. Before him, it was farmed by another family. For well over a century, this property has remained working farmland. He raised cattle and crops here, and later one of his sons continued the work. Eventually, my husband and I purchased the family farm with one hope in mind: that our daughter and her husband might one day continue farming it.

That dream became reality. While still in middle school, our daughter began building her herd by showing Simmental heifers and keeping them. Over time, that small beginning grew into something much bigger. Her future husband was doing the same, and when they married, they combined their herds and built a beef production farm together on this land. For nearly 20 years, we have watched that dream grow.

Along the way, our family has worked closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Service for over a decade to protect our waterways and grasslands. We have made a long-term commitment to conservation, stewardship, and responsible farming practices, supported in part through taxpayer-funded programs.

Today, our daughter, her husband, and our two granddaughters live on this property in a home they built. This is not just property; it is their home, livelihood, and future. Our granddaughters are growing up playing in the yard, running through fields, splashing in creeks, riding horses, and helping with the cattle, learning what it means to care for the land. Now we are being asked to accept that they will grow up in the shadow of massive transmission lines—lines that raise concerns about long-term health and safety and will forever change how this land is experienced.

And what then? Are we expected to simply sell? Who would buy a farm like this once it is divided and overshadowed? Its value, financially and otherwise, will decline. This land also holds deep history beyond our family: a cemetery near the original homesite, abundant wildlife, and ecosystems carefully preserved for generations.

Now Valley Link, in partnership with Dominion Energy, proposes to “plow” through this land with 765 kV transmission lines as part of the Joshua Falls to Yeats project, an unprecedented undertaking in Central Virginia that would permanently alter this property and its future. Rural land is not empty space. It carries history, supports families, and sustains future generations. Once disrupted, it cannot be restored.

While this is our story, we are not alone. Families and communities all along this corridor face the same uncertainty and potential loss. Our voices deserve to be heard.

There is a better way.

Sincerely,

Amy Harris Seay

Louisa County resident; family farm in Fluvanna County