Cassidy Rasnick has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for Virginia, according to a blog report from the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

In 2015, a strain of avian influenza resulted in economic losses of more than a billion dollars and led to the death of 50 million chickens and turkeys in the upper Midwest. That same strain, H5N2, was detected in a wild duck in Montana-wild waterfowl are known carriers of avian influenza.

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is surveying 900+ cattle operations in Virginia to provide an up-to-date measure of cattle inventories, Survey results are due out on Jan. 31.

"We urge everyone who puts up a cut Christmas tree to water it daily and then take it down right after the holidays," says Mike Curtis, NOVEC vice president, Public Relations. "The longer it stays up, the drier it becomes, and the more dangerous."

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) recently completed the 2016 cotton boll weevil survey and detected no weevils in Virginia. The destructive pest was first detected in the state in 1922.

Bill Francisco of Francisco Farms, Staunton, will present a 12 ft. Canaan fir Christmas tree to decorate the first floor of the Virginia Governor's Mansion in Richmond. He won the right to donate the tree at this year’s annual meeting of the Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association. His tree was selected as Grand Champion, and he will present a similar, fresh tree to First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe.

Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced the opening of a Southeast Asia representative office of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) in Singapore, expanding the agency’s global network of international trade representatives stationed around the world.

Through the USDA-funded Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP), drivers can now fill their tanks with cleaner-burning renewable ethanol fuel blends E15 and E85. Details tomorrow.