Last year’s severe drought and turbulent weather resulted in a mixed bag for the state’s crop production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service annual crop production report for Virginia.
The Jan. 10 report indicated that in 2024 Virginia corn, flue-cured tobacco and hay production declined from 2023, while harvested cotton, peanuts and soybeans increased. The USDA surveyed over 1,300 farmers across the commonwealth for a snapshot of annual production.
Corn production showed the biggest decline, down an estimated 40 percent from 2023’s crop. Virginia’s farmers harvested 65,000 fewer acres compared to 2023 with yields of 114 bushels per acre, a 43-bushel or 27 percent decline.
The significant drop is attributed to severe drought conditions followed by heavy rainfall during the growing season.
“We weren’t off on the acres we planted, it was just how the weather played out,” said Robert Harper, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s grain di...