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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 […]
AeroFarms sells its Cane Creek property
AeroFarms has sold its 138,670-square-foot property in Cane Creek Centre to MDH Partners and leased it back for 20 years, the companies announced June 1. MDH Partners bought the property at 1526 Cane Creek Parkway for $19.1 million and leased it back to AeroFarms. The industrial park where AeroFarms is located is jointly owned by […]
Century-old Birdsong Peanuts to modernize Suffolk plant
Suffolk-based Birdsong Peanuts is investing $25.1 million to modernize it Suffolk shelling facility, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday. The company plans to refurbish and automate production lines at the Suffolk plant. It is also committing to additional growing opportunities for Virginia peanut producers, a news release said. Additional details about those opportunities and whether the [&hell[...]
Legislators nipped Va.’s budding cannabis industry, advocates say
RICHMOND, Va. — Jacob Williamson grows, makes and sells hemp-based CBD products through his family’s Hens and Hemp farm. He went through the permitting process to be a hemp farmer when it became legal in 2019, but now he is leaving the industry. “We can’t keep up with the multimillion-dollar cannabis industry coming into the […]
AeroFarms plants roots in Cane Creek Centre
AeroFarms won’t harvest the first crops at its new Cane Creek Centre facility until summer, but the company is already expanding. In December 2019, the Newark, New Jersey-based indoor agriculture company announced it would invest $42 million and create 92 jobs in the 136,000-square-foot facility building in the industrial park owned by Danville and Pittsylvania […]
Perdue AgriBusiness plans $59M Chesapeake expansion
Perdue AgriBusiness will invest $59.1 million and expand operations in the city of Chesapeake, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office announced Thursday. The company, an affiliate of Perdue Farms Inc., will modernize facilities and increase production of high protein soybean meal, soybean oil and hulls. The expansion will position Perdue to expand soybean crushing capability to include […]
Fertilizer shortage hits Va. farmers
Lewis Everett farms cotton, peanuts and small grains in Southampton County, on the Virginia-North Carolina line. He expects to take a loss this year due to the rising costs of fertilizer and crop protectants, which include herbicides and fungicides. Farmers have already negotiated some contract prices, he said. “A lot of those decisions were made […]
Youngkin appoints agriculture secretary, department commissioner
Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin announced Tuesday that he had selected Matthew “Matt” Lohr as state secretary of agriculture and forestry and Joseph “Joe” Guthrie as commissioner of the Virginia Agriculture and Consumer Services Department. “Agriculture … plays a crucial role in Virginia’s economy and communities. Matt and Joseph bring decades worth of hands-on experience that [...]
