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Tag: Houff Corp.

October 2023 Virginia 500 Spotlight: NEIL HOUFF

FIRST JOB: Feeding calves on the family farm

MOST VALUED POSSESSION: My faith in Jesus. All else will be gone at some point.

HOW I UNWIND FROM WORK: Mowing the lawn or mowing pastures on our farm

HOW I BALANCE MY WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE: My work and personal life have always been intermingled and likewise with my faith. I struggle to turn it off but still try to give it balance.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Much knowledge can quickly be passed or lost between generations. It’s important to mentor and build the next generation up.

DID YOU KNOW? During the last year, Houff Corp. acquired 14 acres to grow its Doswell rail transload yard and expanded its Weyers Cave soybean transload facilities, as well as moved its ag fertilizer and crop protection business to a new location in Rockbridge County. Houff graduated from Virginia Tech in 1985 and joined the family business that year; he’s served as president since the 1990s. He serves on a number of boards, including the Virginia Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services and IDM Trucking, a Houff Corp. sister company run by his brothers.

Agriculture 2023: NEIL A. HOUFF

Founded in 1975, family fertilizer business Houff Corp. expanded to provide a variety of agricultural and industrial services to farmers in the Shenandoah Valley, including crop fertilization and trucking. “We don’t fit in a box,” says Houff, president since the early 1990s. “We are a third-party logistics company that uses warehousing, rail and trucking to service our clients.”

In the past year, the company acquired 14 acres to expand its Doswell rail transload yard and is growing its soybean transload facilities in Weyers Cave. It also expanded its retail ag fertilizer and crop protection business. The corporation is owned by a family holding company, Railside Enterprises, which also owns IDM Trucking, run by Houff’s brothers. Houff has a degree in agriculture from Virginia Tech.

IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE, I’D MEET: Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. Both men were not historically the best presidents we have had, but both were true servants, humble and doing what they thought best for their people at the time. I do not see that trait in national leadership today.