For nearly 40 years the Progress Farm at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) has served as a critical asset to understanding biosolids management. Progress Farm is a research area of approximately 200 acres of cropland, forested land, and wetlands. It is home to pollinators, tulip trees, a variety of plant life in the wetlands, […]
Throughout the year, the Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research & Extension Center (Eastern Virginia AREC) conducts research on small grains and soybeans for the benefit of farmers across Virginia. A variety of field plots are planted, some of which are wheat and include the application of a biosolids product. Each May in conjunction with the Virginia […]
There is a lot of heightened focus around recycling and investing in our planet this time of year, specifically on Earth Day – April 22. Yet Dan Kelley of Hidden Acres Farm is recycling biosolids this Earth Day to boost pasture and grow hay to feed and nourish his cattle to achieve a self-sustaining operation. […]
The Virginia Biosolids Council Code of Good Practice has been providing guiding principles to its members for more than a decade. This annual report provides a progress report on how the Council’s membership — all of its members — performed under these guiding principles. This update is provided annually. Biosolids recycling is essential to the […]
Located at the geographical center of Virginia is the Ellis’ family farm. For more than a century the family has been raising cattle, hogs, and crops at their home and farm at Mt. Rush. Today, their agriculture operations include about 300 head of purebred angus cattle and farming approximately 200 acres for hay and corn […]
For the Broaddus family of Milford, Virginia, farming has been a “work from home” career for generations. Bates Broaddus, a sixth-generation farmer, works alongside his father, Lynwood, and his Uncle, Lynwood’s brother, Johnny Broaddus on Spring Hill Farm in Caroline County. Broaddus uses exceptional quality (Class A) pellets as a beneficial soil amendment to raise soybeans, […]
As permits are discussed, promulgated, and decided in Virginia, there is always a discussion on transparency and involvement by the agency doing the regulating, and an interested public. Biosolids, and the regulation of biosolids, is somewhat unique as a regulated material in that the regulations (9VAC25-32) contain very detailed notification requirements. The permitting of biosolids […]
Maile Lono-Batura, Director of Sustainable Biosolids Programs at the Water Environment Federation, explains how a campaign to make 2022 the Year of Poo aims to raise public awareness about the value of human waste as a resource in communities and to get people to realize they are part of this cycle. She also discusses the […]
Founded in 1918, Chip Davis and his family have grown Whetstone Farm to more than 1,200 acres to include poultry, a cow-calf operation, hay, and timber. Chip and his wife Debbie are the third owners of the land, which was original to the the French & Indian War. In 2021, the farm was recognized as a […]
Preserving agricultural land in Hanover County is vitally important to the Newcomb family. They use biosolids as a critical tool to conserving Liberty Springs Farm as a natural space. Farming “is just something we’ve always done,” said Robbie Newcomb. “We need to keep the tradition going. Farming touches and affects everything,” he added. As a […]