Agriculture in Virginia

A December 2025 article published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond highlighted that small farmers are important producers in Virginia’s agriculture industry, and they are currently facing mounting costs and uncertain revenue.

​

According to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, many farmers in the Commonwealth, and the programs that support them, have also felt the effects of federal funding cuts. For example, the USDA canceled two programs that gave schools and food banks more than $1 billion to buy food from local farmers.

​

Iran War has US farmers worried about the cost and availability of fertilizer (Associated Press, 3/18/26)

“Farmers have complained about costly fertilizer for years, but prices have soared even higher since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, leading to a slowdown in shipping through the Straight of Hormuz, a chokepoint for 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas. Besides increasing the price of fuel, which is the key in production of fertilizer, the shipping disruption also has largely stopped the export of nitrogen fertilizers manufactured in the Persian Gulf and limited access the key fertilizer ingredients.” According to farm supply economist Jacqui Fatka of CoBank, who is quoted in the article, “even if the Iran war was resolved, fertilizer prices likely won’t quickly fall.”

 

Another approximately $660 million was cut last year from a federal program that supported small farmers through the National School Lunch program, which subsidizes food in public schools, nonprofit private schools, and residential child care centers.