Precision farming is becoming an increasingly important practice for many Virginia farmers. It utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology to provide crop yield mapping and monitoring, delineating boundaries and the ability to achieve far more precision and economy in applying fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, which reduces their impact on the […]
Kevin Engel is a farmer. And if measured by the number of counties he farms, a big one. Kevin oversees a farming operation based in Hanover County that now includes 17 Virginia counties and sales that extend to Japan, China and India, and ports in Morocco and Eastern Europe. In fact, about 70 percent of […]
It’s not unusual for a challenge or two to surface when doing site development for a major commercial or industrial construction project. What is unusual, however, is to uncover large amounts of acid sulfate soil, which results in acres and acres of barren land that will not support any vegetation. When the topsoil is removed, […]
In the 1950s the Davis brothers purchased about 1,200 acres along the Pamunkey River in New Kent County. Today that farm remains as productive as ever. Farmed by former extension agents—Paul Davis and his father, Clifton Davis—and other Davis family members, Davis Farms has become welcoming land for researchers from Virginia Tech and elsewhere who […]
In that case, the Supreme Court held in 2001 that the ordinance approved by the Amelia County Board of Supervisors had the effect of illegally preventing something that was authorized and regulated by state statute. Following that decision, the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation that allowed any county or city to adopt an ordinance providing for the testing and monitoring […]
A study purporting to show a relationship between the land application of biosolids and human health appears to be nothing more than a collection of unverified complaints generated by anti-biosolids activists. The study, released on March 11, 2013, was authored by Dr. Steven Wing and others from the University of North Carolina and titled “Land […]
October 2014 Biosolids News (.pdf 414 KB) • Biosolids applied with GPS precision on farms • Virginia Tech to conduct biosolids webinars May 2014 Biosolids News (.pdf 352 KB) • Biosolids enhance global reach of Engel Farms • VBC member named “Friend of Agriculture” • Moody heads Virginia Association of Counties November 2013 Biosolids News (.pdf 257 KB) • Biosolids […]
While a thriving bird habitat at the treatment ponds at the Roanoke facility might seem surprising, the national bird watching community has long recognized that wastewater treatment facilities attract significant populations of local and migratory birds. The local Roanoke Bird Club conducts an annual Christmas Bird Count and around the mid-1970s, a member “discovered” a […]
Virginia Beach, VA (August 6, 2012) – Determining best management options for biosolids is both time-consuming and expensive. The development of innovative technologies and processes to manage this valuable byproduct of the water recycling process is occurring at a rapid pace. To provide some additional perspective and information on current research and the development and […]
When Lloyd ‘Meade’ Harrison looks over the fields of his farm today he sees all grass, much different than just a few short years ago when tobacco plants would have dotted those same fields on a cloudy June day. His farm, which has survived as a working family farm since about 1835, occupies approximately 1,000 […]