For Details and Eligibility Requirements, please click on this document in blue: Guidelines for Central VA Produce, Livestock, and Feed Storage Systems Program
*For a larger image, view the .pdf version below.
Full List / Additional items:
Come join us for this year’s Junior Livestock Show and Sale at the Halifax County Fairgrounds on Saturday May 17th. The show will begin at 10:00 am with a dinner and auction sale following at 6:00 pm. Livestock to be sold will include 19 quality steers and heifers in addition to sheep, and goats. For more information call the Halifax County Extension Office at 434-476-2147.
In case you were wondering what we’ve been up to regarding the kudzu bug invasion…here’s the latest.
Monitoring Kudzu Bug Emergence and Overwintering
In mid-March 2014, over 50 Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents and Virginia Tech Faculty and Staff began monitoring a 51-county network of sticky traps to determine overwintering emergence of kudzu bug in Virginia. Trap operators were instructed to position the traps in any open area (e.g., open fields or lawns in urban or rural settings). The trap consisted of 4-inch diameter PVC pipe, 18-inch long, with an end cap on top, suspended approximately 6 inches above the ground using a support stake (Fig. 1). A 12-inch band of sticky paper (Stable Fly Sticky Sleeve, Great Lakes IPM) was fitted all the way around the PVC pipe. Trap operators were instructed to check the trap two or three times per week for presence of kudzu bugs and to change sticky paper weekly. Data, including zeros, are being recorded until the date of first capture of kudzu bugs for each county. Visual reports of kudzu bugs by the trap operators are also accepted for first capture data. To date, 14 trap operators in 13 counties have detected kudzu bugs (Fig. 2). Most reports have come from southeast Virginia. Some traps have caught one or two insects, while others have trapped many (Fig. 1). Although it is premature to make any comments about ‘trends’, traps that are located adjacent to areas (kudzu patches, last year’s soybean fields) where kudzu bug numbesr were high last year are the traps that have caught insects. Also, generally, traps are catching insects on the warmest days.
For more information on Kudzu Bugs and their impact on Virginia Agriculture, check out the links below:
Opportunity for food hub operators (locally-sourced meats, fruits, and vegetables): retail and wholesale distributors; value-added processors and producers; and food business incubators.
Below you will find a summary of the Virginia Fresh Food Loan Fund (VFFLF) which aims to address food deserts and strengthen Virginia’s food system by sharing relevant experience and institutional knowledge in fresh food financing.
http://www.vacommunitycapital.org/uploads/VFFLFproduct.pdf
For more on Virginia Community Capital, check out their site.
Ag Technician, Southern Piedmont AREC, Blackstone, VA
https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/46024
Agricultural Specialist, Southern Piedmont AREC, Blackstone, VA
https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/47335
Farm Manager, Tidewater AREC, Suffolk, VA
https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/47170
Agricultural Supervisor, Tidewater AREC, Suffolk, VA
https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/47166
Extension Agent, ANR, Crop and Soil, Rockingham County
http://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/47442
Extension Agent, ANR, Horticulture, Carroll County
https://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/47012
TOMORROW:
**First produce auction of the year in Cullen, VA: Vegetable starts, potted plants, and YOUNG FRUIT TREES (apple, peach, plum, and cherry!). Starts at 10am, get there before to browse and get an apple fry pie.
**Grain Sorghum Meeting in Blackstone, VA: Management, varieties, disease, marketing, and rotations. This was rescheduled from the snow day earlier in the year. 9:30am at the research station. Please let us know if you have not already RSVPed.
