From every corner of our beautiful Commonwealth, all over Kentucky and across the world to Kenya – VALOR has certainly taken me places! Our most recent seminar allowed me to see my own back yard through the eyes of visitors. This seminar was a reminder that we shouldn’t take our own little pieces of Virginia for granted. We visited businesses I drive by every week, and yet I learned so much from each stop.
Even if I’d had a vague idea of places like Houff Corporation – I certainly had no idea of the scope. This was a unique look at the storage, transfer and transport of commodities and substances vital to agriculture.
SOLI Organics (Formerly Shenandoah Growers) was another eye-opener. The sheer volume of ready-to-plant herbs just grown in their Linville facility is staggering. I’m excited to see their facility at out Central Area seminar this week! I’m proud to report that the gift of a dill plant is still alive.
While my husband spent a lot of time at the Virginia Department of Forestry nursery in Crimora over the years, I’d never visited. We were fortunate to be there on a day when they were processing seedlings for sale.
The Virginia Poultry Growers Cooperative was perhaps the most educational and interesting for me. It’s a success story born out of necessity when a large integrator leaves an area, jeopardizing growers and all the ancillary businesses the industry supports. We got an in-depth look at how the Coop operates, how its adapted to changes in labor and especially how it weathered COVID. We also heard from VPGC grower, David Hughes about his operation in Timberville.
A visit to our area in mid-March is certainly not complete without spending a day at the Highland Maple Festival. After a buckwheat pancake breakfast, we visited Eagle Sugar Camp. We drove over Jack Mountain to visit Monterey, where we enjoyed those famous milkshakes from Highland FFA. VALOR Alum, Kari Sponaugle was our Highland County tour guide for the day!
We were treated to a delicious, traditional Mennonite dinner at Valley Career & Technical Center in Fishersville. Agriculture Educator, FFA adviser, and VALOR Alumni, Kristen Beery hosted us in her class greenhouse, We not only learned about her program, but her husband James gave us all insight into Mennonite history here in the Shenandoah Valley.
We ended this seminar in Rockbridge County at Ingleside Dairy with VALOR alumni, Jennifer Leech and her family. This is the second robotic dairy we’ve been able to visit during our VALOR Experience and I am “utterly” fascinated with them. The systems just seem to be so much easier on both the herd and the humans involved. I could watch it all day! The data collected with each pass is mind-blowing. Farm succession is a hot topic for several in our class and we appreciated the frank conversations about their structure as it begins to pass to another generation.
Again, don’t take for granted all the wonderful operations in your own back yard, I know I’ve surely been missing some great things!
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