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Tag: USDA

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 of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the grant at a visit to Farmer Focus’ headquarters on Tuesday. 

The expansion will “enable Farmer Focus to welcome more family farmers into its farming family” and create 300 jobs over the next two years, according to a news release. Farmer Focus plans to expand its organic chicken processing facility in Harrisonburg. Operating since 2014, the plant processes 335,000 chickens per week, but demand has grown and the expansion will allow the company to process 630,000 chickens per week.  

The creation of the new jobs will coincide with the completion of the expansion project and will be a mix of production, maintenance and supervisory roles, according to Liz Fuchs, Farmer Focus’ chief people officer. A completion date for the expansion has not been set, and the expansion won’t physically change the size of the facility.

“The programs and money the Biden-Harris administration is committing can make a huge difference in providing opportunities to independent processors like Farmer Focus so we can build a more competitive meat industry and strong generational family farms while providing our consumers with the highest quality organic and humane certified chicken,” Farmer Focus Founding Farmer and CEO Corwin Heatwole said in a statement.

 “Just a little over a year ago, I was invited to a White House Round Table where I had the unique opportunity to share my thoughts directly with President [Joe] Biden and Secretary Vilsack on ways to increase competition within the meat industry,” Heatwole added. “The MPPEP proves that our leaders in Washington are listening closely to the farming community, and are following through on their commitment to improve the lives and livelihood of America’s farmers and the resiliency of our food system.”

The program provides grants to help eligible processors expand their capacity, according to the USDA. 

In a statement, Vilsack said, “The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are taking action to advance a sustainable vision of agriculture that prioritizes the needs of our resilient producers and small businesses, strengthens our food supply chain and brings value back to rural people and places.”

With this second round of MPPEP grants, the USDA doled out $59 million to five U.S. companies, including Farmer Focus, the only Virginia-based grant recipient. Farmer Focus will make improvements to alleviate bottlenecks in processing and offset costs associated with equipment purchases, new conveyor lines, building and site modifications and a new wastewater treatment system, according to the USDA. 

Farmer Focus has recently undergone multiple leadership changes. In December 2022, Farmer Focus tapped Stephen J. Shepard as its new president and chief operating officer, a promotion from his role as executive vice president of operations.

Founded in 2014 and formerly known as Shenandoah Valley Organic, Farmer Focus sells organic poultry raised as free-ranging on humane-certified farms. In February 2022, Farmer Focus opened a 78,000-square-foot packaging facility in Harrisonburg,  increasing production capacity and expanding Farmer Focus’ workforce.

Farmer Focus’ products are now distributed in more than 4,000 stores, including the East Coast and the Midwest, in retail grocery chains such as Publix Super Markets Inc., Harris Teeter and Safeway Inc.

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 will give Virginia a competitive advantage in the agriculture industry,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Lohr served as the chief of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service agency, which has an operating budget of more than $4.5 billion and more than 10,000 employees across 3,000 offices.

He previously was the commissioner of the state Agriculture and Consumer Services Department, and before that served in the House of Delegates from 2006 to 2010.

Lohr has also served as director of the Farm Credit of the Virginias Knowledge Center, a middle school agriscience teacher, head of his leadership development company and president of his family’s farming operation, Valley Pike Farm Inc. He is a fifth-generation farmer.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and worked as a state and national officer for the FFA (formerly known as Future Farmers of America).

Guthrie served on the state’s Agriculture and Consumer Services Department’s Virginia Cattle Industry Board by appointment from former Gov. Bob McDonnell and on the USDA’s Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board by appointment from department secretary Tom Vilsack.

He is a senior instructor at Virginia Tech. Since 2007, he has taught courses in its Agricultural Technology Program. He also owns and has operated a beef cattle and hay farm in Pulaski County.

Guthrie was chair of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors in 2020 and 2021. He first won election to the board in 2015. Prior to that, he served a four-year term on the county’s School Board.

Guthrie has served as president of Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Association, president to Pulaski County Farm Bureau and president of Virginia Cattlemen’s Association.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in agricultural economics and international trade from Massey University in New Zealand, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar. In 2007, he won the Eisenhower Fellowship in Agriculture to research international beef trade from Australia and New Zealand.

Broadband service might expand in Powhatan County

Powhatan County announced Friday an expansion of its broadband partnership with Central Virginia Services Inc. that could provide fiber optic high-speed internet access to 1,559 locations in the western part of the county, if the project receives federal grant funding.

CVSI operates Firefly Fiber Broadband, a subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), which provides electricity to rural portions of 14 counties in Virginia. Firefly is based in Palmyra and provides internet access to parts of Appomattox, Nelson, Louisa and Fluvanna counties, although it is currently constructing more fiber circuits to other Central Virginia locations, including Albemarle and Buckingham counties.

CVEC won a $2.3 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Broadband ReConnect loan and grant combination in February to construct fiber network lines over 704 square miles, including 17,000 homes and several businesses, schools and health care centers in Central Virginia.

In April, Firefly submitted an application for a second-round grant, which would allow the cooperative to invest $7.2 million in connecting Powhatan customers by the end of 2023. If successful, the project would expand fiber optic lines with gigabit-level service to unserved parts of the county. Residents interested in supporting the application can send comments to the USDA.

The USDA announced a second round of funding in December, pledging $200 million in grants, $200 million for 50-50 grant/loan combinations and up to $200 million for low-interest loans. Applications were accepted through April 15, and communities without sufficient access to broadband — defined as less than 10 megabits per second downstream and 1 megabit upstream — were eligible. Awards are announced on a rolling basis.

 

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