News & Features

Virginia Farm Bureau News & Features is your place for news and information from around Virginia. From gardening tips and recipes to politics and events, stay up to date with what matters to Virginians.

Farmers see benefit of new drone technology

Farmers in Virginia and across the nation are closely monitoring new legislation dealing with the use of unmanned aircraft systems, or drones.



Study: Farmers average just three sick days a year

A new study conducted by Gallup and Healthways suggests that farmers, foresters and those in the commercial fishing industry take the second-smallest number of sick days in the nation.



Aquaponic systems allow crop and fish production year-round

An aquaponic system combines traditional aquaculture with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment to grow crops, often greens or lettuce.



AFBF: FDA’s livestock antibiotic proposals based on theory

Citing a lack of data to support limiting antibiotic use in livestock, the American Farm Bureau Federation has told the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it is concerned about proposals that would restrict antibiotic use based on unproven theory.



GAP certification voluntary but becoming necessary for produce growers

Farmers who wholesale their produce, and even those who sell directly to the public, are seeing more reasons to become Good Agricultural Practices-certified.



Taking agriculture back in time ‘will not feed the world today’

Big companies are trying to change the way U.S. farmers operate their businesses, but some things don’t need changing.



Speaker: Farmers can train beef and dairy herds to eat weeds

Farmers can reduce feed costs and increase their profit by teaching cows to eat more weeds than grass, a nationally known livestock expert says.



State begins tracking owner-financed farm conservation practices

Virginia farmers in six soil and water conservation districts are being urged to participate in a pilot program to collect information about conservation practices they’ve implemented.



Speaker: Technology is critical in addressing world hunger

Shoppers at farmers’ markets enjoy the freshness, taste and quality—and simplicity—of local produce and meats straight from the farm. But farmers can’t feed a growing world population using small-farm technology from a previous century.




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