Sign In
Free Newsletter
Agtech startup to invest $25M in Albemarle expansion
Agricultural biotech startup AgroSpheres will invest $25 million to expand in Albemarle County, creating an estimated 50 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. The company will increase production at its facility at 1180 Seminole Trail and build a research and development and demonstration facility for new products, which will be a pilot plant for a […]
Farmer Focus hatches $17.8 million expansion
Harrisonburg-based Farmer Focus is undertaking a $17.8 million expansion to boost capacity at its 78,000-square foot processing facility on Acorn Drive. The organic poultry producer, which marked its ninth anniversary in March, announced in February that it was the recipient of a $3.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture‘s Meat and Poultry […]
Avian flu outbreaks strike Va. farms
For almost a year, Virginia poultry farms managed to avoid the nation’s worst-ever avian flu outbreak, but in January, the virus struck a commercial turkey operation in Rockingham County, prompting the killings of 25,300 birds. Five days later, 10,700 more turkeys were euthanized in Rockingham, and in February, 800 birds at an Alexandria live market […]
Farmer Focus to create 300 jobs with $17.8M expansion
Harrisonburg-based Farmer Focus is planning a $17.8 million expansion that will create 300 jobs and double its processing capacity, the organic poultry producer announced this week. Part of that expansion will be paid for with a $3.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture‘s Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program (MPPEP). U.S. Secretary […]
Incubator hopes to grow Virginia winemaking
Tim and Ben Jordan are first-generation grape growers on a Shenandoah Valley farm that has been in their family since the 1700s. Although the brothers “leapt off the ground quite blindly” to pursue their passion, Tim Jordan says — first planting grapes in 2007 — their dream of building a winery on the farm proved […]
Farmer Focus taps new president/COO
Harrisonburg-based organic poultry producer Farmer Focus announced leadership changes Tuesday, including tapping a new president and chief operating officer as well as a new chief commercial officer. Stephen J. Shepard is the company’s new president and COO, a promotion from executive vice president of operations, a position he has held since April. In his new […]
Indoor salmon farm travels upstream
An indoor fish farm located in Southwest Virginia, an idea born nearly a decade ago, is slowly swimming its way closer to reality. Work on water infrastructure improvements, including a new water line and sewage lift station, to support the Pure Salmon facility that will straddle Tazewell and Russell counties could begin as early as […]
Agriculture conference headed for Danville
A new conference for the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry will debut Oct. 25 at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) in Danville. One goal behind the event, dubbed CEA Summit East, is “highlighting some of the CEA growth that’s happening in Virginia — and particularly in Southern Virginia,” according to organizer Kaylee […]
Va. Tech receives record $80M grant for climate-smart farming
Virginia Tech has received a record $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a pilot program that will pay farmers to add practices that could help curb greenhouse gases, the university announced Monday. The grant is the largest in the university’s history. Virginia Tech is partnering on the pilot program with Rural […]
$300M vertical farming campus coming to Chesterfield
A $300 million indoor vertical farm campus — billed as the world’s largest — is coming to Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. San Francisco-based Plenty Unlimited Inc. is expected to produce 300 jobs over the next six years in a multiphase project. The first farm, expected to be completed in […]
NoVa distillery to expand, create 42 jobs
Prince William County-based MurLarkey Distilled Spirits will invest $8.1 million to move and expand its operations, with plans to create 42 new jobs over the next three years, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday. MurLarkey will leave Bristow and establish a large new distillery and tasting room on the Manassas campus of Farm Brew Live, a […]
AeroFarms to add 66 jobs in Pittsylvania
New Jersey-based leafy greens producer AeroFarms plans to add 66 more jobs as it increases production at its vertical farm in Pittsylvania County, the governor’s office announced this week. This is in addition to the 92 jobs promised in its operations at Cane Creek Centre, a $42 million investment in what is promoted as the […]
