Virginia

The U.S. Apple Association announced the newest members of its leadership development program, the NextGen Apple Fellowship, last week, and several come from the Northwest.  Those selected to participate in the 2025 class include:      Julieta Castillo -- Marketing Coordinator Superfresh Growers (Yakima, WA) Zachary Cohen -- Sales Cohen Produce Marketing (Shiremanstown, PA) William Gant -- Produc

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture at Virginia Tech enrolled over 1,300 farms representing more than 202,000 acres.  It’s the first year of a landmark project that incentivizes agricultural producers in four states to adopt climate-smart practices.  The project i...

Regenerative agriculture continues to gain momentum as more practices and offerings become available for both growers looking for additional revenue streams and companies looking to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions.  Dustin Madison, who manages the agronomic, conservation, and fertility operations of the Engle Family Farms in Virginia and North Carolina, is part of the Perdue Sustainability P

New research launched this fall at Washington State University looks to help apple growers better understand how their trees respond to increasingly unpredictable cold snaps that freeze buds and destroy harvests.  Funded by an $850,000 grant from the USDA’s Specialty Crop Multi-State Grant Program, the four-state study led by WSU's Stefano Musacchi, will gather new data on dormancy in Gala, Honeyc

Registration is now underway for next year's USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum.   “The theme of the event is meeting tomorrow's challenges today," noted World Agricultural Outlook Board chair Mark Jekanowski.  He added the 101st edition of the Forum is scheduled for February 27th through 28th at Crystal City, VA.  Like in past years, the...

Pumpkins are on full display across the United States as part of many fall traditions.  The production of pumpkins, from classic orange Howdens to new varieties like Cinderella, is widely dispersed throughout the United States, with all states producing some pumpkins. ...

Smithfield Foods has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a price-fixing lawsuit.  Reuters said consumers accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the U.S. pork market by limiting supply.   Smithfield spokesman Jim Monroe said the company denied liability in settling, and that the accord reduces the distraction, risk, and cost of protracted litigation.  “

One Pacific Northwest school will receive thousands of dollars via the Apples4Education grant program. The effort, put on by the U.S. Apple Association, awarded four schools from around the nation $4,000 for the 2022-23 school year. Each grant will provide supplemental student nutrition and expose students to a wider variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as teach students about healthy

The Butcher Block Act, which supporters say will boost U.S. meat processing capacity, won bipartisan support from the House Ag panel last week. The legislation is in contrast to the Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act, which was fiercely contested, advancing only along partisan lines ...

House lawmakers Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, and Anthony Gonzalez, An Ohio Republican, introduced the American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act this week. The bipartisan legislation seeks to strengthen supply chains across the agriculture industry and lower food costs for consumers ...