This year’s crop is excellent: sweet, juicy and luscious with plenty to go around. Virginia peach season began officially on July 1 and the next several weeks will offer prime picking.

Prince William County (PWC) is hosting a Public Meeting for Stakeholders to share their perspectives regarding rural preservation in Prince William County. This session will focus specifically on creating a vision and implementing recommendations from the Rural Preservation Study, as the County seeks to address rural preservation.

Honey bees are invaluable to the health of the U.S. agricultural economy as they enable the production of at least 90 commercially grown crops in the nation. In Virginia, honeybees are essential pollinators for about one-third of the state’s fruit and vegetable crops. That is why Governor Ralph S. Northam declared June 17-23 as Virginia Pollinator Week. Without adequate pollination, Virginia could experience a significant reduction in its harvest of apples, alfalfa, berries,cucumbers, melons, squash, peaches and pumpkins.”

Governor Ralph Northam has issued a proclamation declaring the week of May 19–25, 2019 as Virginia Agriculture Week in the Commonwealth.

As you sit down to dinner this Agriculture Week, why not lift your glass in a Salute to Stick-To-Itiveness for those farmers who put food on your table day after day and year after year despite the weather, price drops, increased prices for seeds or fuel, labor shortages and changing public tastes.

PWCS reports that it is the only school division in the state that attained the gold award for increased participation in their school breakfast programs.

Due to an overwhelming response to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Beehive Distribution Program, the program has been suspended. VDACS anticipates that the current volume of applications will utilize all funding allocated for the program.

A common question this time of year is, is it safe to leave Easter eggs out overnight? The answer is no.