Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) recently redesigned the Virginia Farm Link website and database at http://www.vafarmlink.org to include additional features to better facilitate connections between farm owners and those interested in farming.

Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) Aug. 15 announced the state’s estimated crop production for 2016. Corn production in Virginia was forecast at 51.3 million bushels, up 6 percent from the previous crop.

The Haymarket Thursday Afternoon Farmer's Market will reopen Aug. 11 at Novant Haymarket Medical Center's parking lot with a new name, Exit 40 Farmer's Market.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports it has reached agreement with Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply to allow access for U.S. beef and beef products to the Brazilian market for the first time since 2003. In a separate decision, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) also recently determined that Brazil's food safety system governing meat products remains equivalent to that of the United States and that fresh (chilled or frozen) beef can be safely imported from Brazil.

In the proclamation, Governor McAuliffe says that farmers’ markets in Virginia have grown dramatically, from 88 markets in 2006 to 259 in 2016. Consumer spending at farmers’ markets keeps money circulating within the local economy, helping to create and preserve jobs in rural localities. Consumers visiting farmers’ markets also spend money at neighboring businesses.

Hay bales, which typically are left unattended during the summer, can provide good protection from the elements for strategically planted marijuana, according to a news release from Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

Cullipher Farm in Virginia Beach has harvested its first sweet corn of the year to sell at the farm’s stand in Pungo. Kim Cullipher said her family has 35 acres planted in sweet corn this year. “We usually alternate bicolor with white sweet corn, and right now the bicolor is available. It’s usually the first to come in,” she was quoted as saying in a press release from the VIrginia Farm Bureau Federation.

“Farmers use a variety of tools to keep cows cool in the summer months,” explained Lindsay Reames, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation assistant director of governmental relations. “They have large fans to circulate air in the barns, and some have sprinkler systems to mist the animals and cool them off.