CHARLESTON, W.Va. -Six West Virginia projects will share in $248,433.07 of federal funding under the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) in 2020. These projects were chosen from the 19 West Virginia organizations, agencies and institutions who requested a total of $1,064,174.54 for this fiscal year. Recipients must use the federal funding to enhance …
Governor’s One Shot Committee Raising Money for Food Banks
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Despite canceling their annual banquet and guided hunts, the Governor’s One Shot Committee (GOS) is still working to raise money, as well as donate harvested deer to benefit West Virginia food banks. The GOS’s main mission is to raise money to fund the Hunters Helping the Hungry (HHH) program which uses those funds to offset the cost …
Million Dollar FDA Grant Awarded to WVDA Labs
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) a Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM) grant totaling $1.04 million. The grant will be used for surveillance testing, new equipment and research and development of contaminants in human and animal food. The WVDA is one of only nine labs in the …
Invasive Spotted Lanternfly Found in Mineral County
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) has confirmed a second population of the invasive Spotted Lanternfly (Lycormia delicatula) near Ridgeley, WV. The invasive pest was reported through the WVDA’s Bug Busters hotline on September 28 and confirmed by WVDA and APHIS employees the following week. The WVDA collected a specimen and will be conducting treatments with …
A New Appreciation for the Farmer
Our farmers have always been one of the most respected professions in America, but the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance agriculture plays in our daily lives. Evident in a recent Gallup poll, which ranked agriculture and farming, for the first time in twenty years, as one of the most favorable U.S. industrial sectors. With 69 percent of Americans viewing …
Pandemic Shows Where to Invest
Six months into this pandemic, many of us are trying to regain normalcy while adjusting to the realities now facing us. As we grab hold of these new challenges, state leaders need to start planning for the societal adjustments that will move the country forward. Like any good after-action plan, we need to determine successes and failures, and start planning …