Agriculture 2024: MATTHEW J. LOHR

With a combined annual economic impact of more than $105 billion, agriculture and forestry are Virginia’s largest private industries. Lohr’s office and its three agencies oversee these industries while also working to preserve farmland and forestland, promote access to safe and healthy food and support rural economic development.

Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry since January 2022, Lohr previously served as a three-term state delegate, as commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and as chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. He also worked as knowledge center director for agricultural lender Farm Credit of the Virginias.

Lohr and his two children own and operate Valley Pike Farm in Broadway, which has been in the Lohr family for five generations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Virginia Tech and previously taught middle school agriscience in Shenandoah County for two years.

In an April guest column in The Virginian-Pilot, Lohr wrote that “Virginia is strategically positioned to become a leading hub for indoor agriculture,” noting the commonwealth’s wealth of universities, collaborative programs, research and skilled workforce.