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Agriculture

   

Whether encouraging dairy farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reduce phosphorus overfeeding or determining the cause of destructive strawberry diseases, Virginia Cooperative Extension has the resources to help agricultural producers throughout the commonwealth. Backed by scientific expertise, Extension uses its knowledge to improve the efficiency and profitability on Virginia farms, which account for 8.5 million acres or a third of the total land in the state. This media kit is a hub of information about production agriculture and includes the latest news and archived releases, an index of agricultural experts, publications and magazine articles, multimedia, and much more.

Latest News
Extension helps strawberry growers fight aggressive plant disease (March 2008)
Virginia’s strawberry growers have been dealing with an uninvited guest in their fields this winter, anthracnose crown rot, one of the most destructive diseases of strawberries in the southeastern United States.

Extension targets vanishing honeybees that continue to trouble Virginia’s bee industry (March 2008)
More than 2,000 beekeepers in Virginia face the possibility of losing entire bee colonies to the Colony Collapse Disorder, but through Virginia Cooperative Extension, they have access to the latest research-based information about the problem.

Experts

News Releases
Researchers step-up efforts to monitor crop-killing soybean disease (August 2007)
With the soybean crop in the midst of its growing season, researchers at Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have begun the painstaking effort to monitor Virginia's fields for Asian Soybean Rust.

High tunnel structures offer a new tool for farmers (August 2007)
As farmers know, the growing season is limited by freezing weather in early spring and late fall. However, they do have a tool for extending the season and increasing output: high tunnel structures.

Incentive encourages dairy farmers to lessen phosphorus pollution in Chesapeake Bay (March 2007)
Virginia Tech researchers in the Department of Dairy Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are using a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to offer incentive payments to dairy farmers who reduce phosphorus overfeeding on their farms. This outreach program follows almost a decade of research on the dietary nutrient management of dairy cattle in Virginia.

Virginia Cooperative Extension helps Southwest Virginia sheep producers understand the distinct advantages of hair sheep (March 2007)
When hair sheep began grazing on U.S. pastures in the 1950s, a trend in lamb production began that is now affecting Virginia’s agricultural economy and is the subject of significant outreach from Virginia Cooperative Extension. Associate Professor Scott Greiner and Professor David Notter of Virginia Tech’s Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences are teaching livestock producers in Southwest Virginia about hair sheep – a popular cousin of traditional wool sheep.

Five researchers blog during trip to study plant disease management in South Africa (March 2007)
Three Virginia Cooperative Extension agents and two faculty members in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are blogging about their experiences during a 17-day trek across South Africa.

Asian Soybean Rust found in Virginia, but not a threat to current crop (October 2006)
Asian Soybean Rust was detected in a commercial soybean field in Chesapeake Va., and in a sentinel plot in Suffolk, Va., on Oct. 14. “Fortunately for our soybean producers in Virginia, this year’s crop is out of danger,” said David Holshouser, associate professor and Extension soybean specialist.

Agriculture researchers monitor Virginia’s soybean crop for disease (July 2006)
Virginia Tech’s researchers are actively monitoring the commonwealth’s soybean crop to assist producers in protecting their fields from major yield reductions caused by Asian soybean rust, an aggressive fungal disease, and the soybean aphid.

Safeguarding food safety and animal health in Virginia (March 2005)
Virginia Cooperative Extension is gearing up for a major educational effort to assist with a national animal identification program, which will provide greater protection for human and animal health.

Researcher reviewing antibiotics in swine (March 2004)
Antibiotic feed additives have been an important part of swine growth as they help young pigs avoid sickness from bacteria. However, Allen Harper, Virginia Cooperative Extension swine specialist at the Tidewater Agricultural and Research and Extension Center, has been working on assessing products to use as feed additives as a substitute for traditional antibiotic feeds.

Poultry sanitation improved through work of Virginia Cooperative Extension specialist (March 2004)
Thanks to research efforts at Virginia Tech, poultry processing plants are able to make better decisions concerning sanitation. Audrey McElroy, Virginia Cooperative Extension poultry specialist at Virginia Tech, recently completed a trial reviewing turkey carcass chilling, a crucial step in processing, at six commercial plants to optimize the procedure and to keep turkeys free as possible from Salmonella and Campylobacter, both food borne pathogens.

Publications
Extension has numerous publications on agriculture-related topics.

Magazine Articles
Value-added Soybeans to Save Money and Environment (Innovations, January 2008)
Virginia soybean producers harvest more than 15 million bushels of soybeans each year, contributing between $75 million and $100 million to the state’s economy. Although conventional soybeans are the most economically important row crop in Virginia, about 75 percent of their total phosphorus content is in a form that cannot be readily digested by livestock, the No. 1 consumers of domestically grown soybeans.

Incentive Payments May Reduce Phosphorus Pollution (Innovations, January 2008)
With more than 70,000 dairy cows in the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the potential for excess nutrients to pollute the ecosystem is high. An interdisciplinary team of researchers is using $1.7 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to offer incentive payments to dairy farmers to reduce phosphorous overfeeding on their farms.

Agents study small grains for silage (Solutions, June 2007)
Dairy farmers in Southwest Virginia may soon have a new option for growing crops to serve as silage for their herds. Agriculture and natural resources Extension agents Chase Scott in Wythe County, Phil Blevins in Washington County, and Walter Robinson in Smyth County are in their second year of field tests designed to determine the feasibility of using small grains as silage where farmers currently are using only corn.

Strawberry growers go to school (Solutions, June 2007)
What started out as an afternoon field walk with a few local strawberry growers in 2002, has grown into a half-day field walk and a day-long strawberry school and trade show for strawberry growers from Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland.

Putting money in beef producers’ pockets (Solutions, June 2007)
Teaching beef cattle producers proper management skills and how to use basic technologies helps put money in their pockets, according to John Hall, Extension beef cattle specialist.

Solving an Age-Old Problem (Innovations, January 2007)
Poultry growers and dairy producers in the Shenandoah Valley are hoping to help improve the environment and enhance their bottom lines with some innovative organic resource management.

New Tool Helps Dairy Farmers (Innovations, January 2007)
Dairy farmers across the country can thank scientists in the Department of Dairy Science for providing them with more complete information for selecting bulls for increased herd life of daughters and hopefully increasing productivity on their farms.

Virginia Tech Assists with Food Safety and Security Efforts (Innovations, January 2007)
Breeding, marketing, and forage systems are all common concerns for livestock producers, and a new national program may elevate security and animal health to near the top of that list.

Multimedia
New Threat to Honeybees (March 24, 2008)
Podcast with Rick Fell, Virginia Tech entomology professor and Extension bee specialist

Grazing cattle on reclaimed mined land: Life in far Southwest Virginia has its ups and downs, literally
From the economic hardships with the closing of the coal mines, to the up and down topography of the land itself, life is not always easy in Southwest Virginia. But one cattle producer has found an upside to the aftermath of surface mining, and things for him are on the upswing.
Small (3.2 MB), Medium (4.1 MB), Large (6.2 MB)

All video and audio resources are courtesy of University Relations Office of Visual and Broadcast Communications.

Additional Resources
Virginia Tech’s Plant Disease Clinic offers diagnostic services to Virginia Cooperative Extension offices. The clinic handles plant samples with problems caused by pathogens, including fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, in addition to plant samples with environmental or other abiotic problems. Diagnosis is provided for any type of plant, including row crops. Other services provided by the Plant Disease Clinic include mushroom identification and plant identification of non-weedy plants.

On the Tidewater AREC website, you will find information on Soybean Production in Virginia. Growers may visit the Virginia Soybean Rust website or call the soybean rust hotline at (757) 657-6450 ext. 130 to receive weekly scouting updates and recommendations.

In March of 2007, three Extension agents and two faculty members in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science shared about their 17-day journey throughout South African in the Spanning the Globe blog. The team visited farms and research centers to learn about disease management of agronomic crops in the country. They brought information back to Virginia farmers to help fight potentially devastating plant diseases like Asian Soybean Rust.

Many counties and cities have agriculture and natural resources agents. Contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office for more information about a program in your area.

Extension also has a directory of Extension experts on all of the topics it covers. If you need help locating a source or looking for additional information, contact Michael Sutphin at (540) 231-6975 or Lori Greiner at (540) 231-5863.