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farming

Dec 31, 2024

Farm Bill, industry growth among agricultural leaders’ priorities in 2025 

Anticipating President-elect Trump‘s impact on agriculture in his first 100 days of office, industry experts say they are concerned about the fate of the Farm Bill and how the agriculture industry will sustain itself amid rising production costs, labor shortages, and soaring land costs.   In advance of the election, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), […]

Dec 20, 2024

Smithfield to form new hog production company ahead of IPO

Smithfield Foods has inked a deal with VisionAg, an affiliate of North Carolina’s HD3 Farms, to start a new hog production business early next year as the meat producer gears up to go public, the company announced Friday. Smithfield, a giant in packaged meats and pork products, will provide 28,000 sows to the new company, […]

A hay bale half-buried in mud in a wooded area
Oct 23, 2024

Va. agricultural damage from Helene totals $159.3M

Hurricane Helene’s agricultural damage in Virginia totals more than $159.3 million, according to Virginia Cooperative Extension agents’ research. Hurricane Helene made landfall on the Gulf Coast in Florida as a Category 4 storm late on Sept. 26 and tore through the Southeast into Sept. 27, causing catastrophic flooding in parts of Georgia, North and South […]

Sep 18, 2023

German yeast upcycler building plant in Rockingham

Leiber, a German manufacturer that processes brewers’ yeast into animal food, biotechnology and supplements, will invest as much as $20 million to establish its first U.S. operation in Rockingham County’s Innovation Village, adding an estimated 35 jobs. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the new facility Monday. It will be completed in phases and increase the company’s […]

Dec 6, 2022

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 […]

Sep 19, 2022

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 […]

Sep 14, 2022

$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 […]

Jul 27, 2022

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 […]

May 24, 2022

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[...]

Mar 22, 2022

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 […]

Jan 5, 2022

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 [...]

Oct 26, 2021

Arlington agriculture nonprofit names first president and CEO

Arlington-based sustainability agriculture nonprofit Leading Harvest announced Friday that it has named Kenny Fahey as its first president and CEO. Fahey, who works remotely from Seattle, has been Leading Harvest’s executive director since its launch 18 months ago. He has enrolled more than 1.3 million acres across 29 states in the organization’s Farmland Management Standard […]

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