Nicole Zema

Nicole Zema is a longtime community journalist from the Deep South who found a home in Virginia agriculture. As a senior staff writer and photographer for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, her storytelling is focused on the issues, trends and traditions important to farm families and consumers alike. 

Nicole earned her journalism degree from the University of Alabama, and subsequently covered local activities and news for weekly newspapers in rural Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, earning several state press association awards. Nicole currently creates feature packages for Cultivate and Virginia Farm Bureau News magazines, reports on weekly agriculture news circulated to statewide media, and is editor of Farm Bureau’s employee newsletter. She often is seen snapping pictures at industry events or interviewing farmers who run diverse operations from the Great Southwest to the Northern Neck. 

Nicole resides in Chesterfield County with her husband, Eric.

“As I pursue the growth opportunities offered through VALOR, I anticipate advancing my industry knowledge and networks to more effectively touch the hearts and minds of Virginians through compelling storytelling. And as my contextual understanding of global agriculture grows through the program, I can ultimately tell the story of farming and forestry at the highest level, sharing narratives that will sustain agricultural advocacy for generations to come!”