The pest feeds on a wide range of crops and plants, highlighting grapes and hops – which experts say could potentially impact the production of Mountain State alcoholic beverages.
An invasive insect now found in eight eastern West Virginia counties could affect the state’s wine and beer industries, according to experts.
The state Department of Agriculture says Taylor County has been added to the list of counties finding Spotted Lanternfly in their midst. The other counties include Hancock, Brooke, Mineral, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, and Jefferson.
The Spotted Lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper that is native to China and arrived in North America hidden on goods imported from Asia. The pest’s main source of food is the non-native “Tree of Heaven,” but it feeds on a wide range of crops and plants, highlighting grapes and hops – which experts say could potentially impact the production of Mountain State alcoholic beverages.
“The WVDA is working closely with federal agencies to identify and treat areas where spotted Lanternfly is found,” West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt said. “However, with no known native predators, Spotted Lanternfly will continue to spread across our state, impacting agriculture industries and private property. We hope a more robust federal effort to contain and slow the spread of these insects will be initiated soon.”
The Agriculture Department says it has had some success in treating infested areas with insecticide.
Spotted Lanternfly can travel short distances on their own, but their main mode of movement is hitchhiking. Those who travel to an area with Spotted Lanternfly populations are asked to carefully inspect their vehicles, trailers, boats, ATVs, and any other surfaces for hitchhikers before they head home.
For more information on Spotted Lanternfly, click here. To report a spotted lanternfly sighting, send a photo, your location, and contact information to bugbusters@wvda.us or call 304-558-2212.
There are several pressing issues facing the West Virginia farm community. One is finding alternative crops to make money.
On Agriculture Day at the Capitol, first generation farmer Tiffany Ward listed harvesting maple syrup and growing hops for local breweries. She said she and her husband switched to farming about five years ago when Raleigh County’s once thriving coal industry went fallow.
“My husband was a coal miner and we needed a back up plan and hops were not a thing,” Ward said. “Craft Breweries are growing now at a rapid pace so we decided to start growing hops.”
Another issue for West Virginia agriculture is the state of the state’s lab. State Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt says the state’s top scientists can’t safeguard food and more in a crumbling, 70-year-old lab facility. He says farmers small and big, along with the consumer, will suffer without the $55 million agriculture laboratory renovation his agency has requested.
“There’s water testing done, food safety, we help boost tourism by caring for the trees in our forests.” Leonhardt said. “And, if you have a pet, we make sure that the label on that food package gives your pet the nutrition that it needs.”
The commissioner says Gov. Jim Justice’s proposal that the state combine the labs for agriculture, the state police, the medical examiner and public health labs into one entity, simply won’t work.
“Nobody has shown me how combining them is going to save any money,” Leonhardt said.
Another issue for Ward is that the state needs to help small farmers like her with guidance so they don’t have to learn from scratch.
“We have different growing zones,” Ward said. “To find somebody in West Virginia who knows about that would have helped us in the beginning to grow a little faster.”
Leonhardt said the plans are in place to help small farmers, but they are limited by being underfunded.
“We have some field reps out there for small farmers to get started, but not enough to cover the state,” he said.
Leonhardt says the answer here is to fully fund the West Virginia Grown program, developed to best market West Virginia grown and made products to consumers. Leonhardt says the current funding does not take the program to its full potential.
On a recent Monday, students at James Monroe High School in Monroe County eat french bread pizza, corn, beans and mixed fruit. They also have three, locally sourced salad options to choose from: a spinach salad with bright red cherry tomatoes, a pre-made salad or a make-you-own salad bar.
“We hear that these foods look so much better, put together,” said Kimberly Gusler, the high school’s head cook. She said that since the school began using local salad greens and vegetables and fruits when available, students appear to be eating more of them.
“They love the way the salads look.”
Credit Brittany Patterson / WVPB
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WVPB
Spinach salad made with locally grown greens on the lunch line at James Monroe High School.
James Monroe is one of a handful of schools in West Virginia participating in the Farm to School program that helps get local food into schools and encourages schools to participate in agricultural activities.
A new bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature this year, will expand the use of local foods to all of the state’s schools and state-led institutions.HB 2396, also called the West Virginia Fresh Food Act, requires beginning July 1, 2019, all state-funded institutions to purchase a minimum of 5 percent of fresh produce, meat and poultry products from West Virginia producers.
The bill’s text states the idea behind the legislation is to support West Virginia farmers and allow them to expand, as well as boost access to healthy, fresh food.
By creating a built-in demand by state-led institutions and schools, which alone purchase $100 million worth of food from out-of-state sources according to the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the hope is the bill will stimulate the state’s agricultural economy, said Spencer Moss, executive director of the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, which supported the bill. (In the interest of transparency, we should note that the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition is a financial supporter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.)
“This bill’s a really great way to invest in West Virginia communities, but also West Virginia agriculture and farmers,” she said.
Credit Brittany Patterson / WVPB
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WVPB
Tomatoes growing at Sprouting Farms in Talcott, West Virginia.
West Virginia has a rich farming culture and one of the highest concentrations of family-owned farms in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the majority of farms aren’t very big. The average farm size in West Virginia is just 157 acres, and small farm sizes and low production present challenges to both farmers seeking to make a living as well as businesses, schools and agencies that want to use locally grown food.
“In West Virginia, we often talk about there being a chicken-and-an-egg issue with with regards to agriculture,” Moss said. “So we know, especially in fruits and vegetables and produce production, that we have a very low supply. And that’s geography related, it’s labor related, but it’s also market demand related. So, farmers need a market if they’re going to scale up their operation.”
By creating a 5 percent purchasing demand from schools and other state-led institutions, the state is effectively creating that demand, Moss said.
Economists that study local food and agriculture have found that investment in local food systems creates an outsized impact to the local economy. It’s called the “multiplier effect,” and the idea is that for every $1 spent with a local farmer, that investment will come back into the community worth $1.40 to $1.80, because when local farmers have more money to spend they will do so in their communities whether it be through investment in their operations or at the local store.
“Whereas, if I’m investing $1 in a company that’s not based in West Virginia, doesn’t use West Virginia product, that money is just gone,” Moss said. “It just leaves our communities.”
Logistics Challenge
Credit Brittany Patterson / WVPB
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WVPB
A refrigerated truck used to help transport locally grown produce.
But while the West Virginia Fresh Food Act creates a new market for locally-grown food, getting that food to state institutions — schools, colleges and prisons, etc. — poses a challenge.
“The prices are higher, logistics are tougher, it’s not what they’re used to,” said Fritz Boettner, the director of food systems for Turnrow Appalachian Food Collective. This food hub aggregates product from about 75 farmers across southern West Virginia and beyond, and helps get it into the hands of people, businesses and schools.
Boettner said, in his experience, everyone wants to use more locally grown food, however, sourcing can be a challenge. Most restaurants and institutions are used to using one distributor, like U.S. Foods, which provides a list of everything from apples to zucchini.
“And all we have are seasonal products,” he said.
Turnrow, and other food hubs across the state, coordinate with many farmers to fill orders. He said selling to state-institutions could be very beneficial, but the success of the effort will largely be dictated by how the West Virginia Department of Agriculture writes the rules for how the bill is carried out and enforced.
It also hinges on the flexibility of state-led institutions to pay more for locally-grown food, and that is not a given.
“Everyone has to work in budgets that are given to them,” Boettner adds.
Next Steps
West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt acknowledges local food may cost more upfront, but in an interview he said local produce is fresher, more appealing and should last longer.
Credit Martin Valent / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt.
“There should be less waste, they should be able to have a little bit more carryover,” he said. “So in the end, it may even save money to the institutions.”
He also expects it to have a postive effect on the health of West Virginians.
This month, ahead of the July 1 effective date, the Agriculture Department is expected to reach out to stakeholders affected by the bill including farmers, groups like the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition and state-led institutions to talk about what each party needs to make the bill’s mandate a reality.
Leonhardt said he hopes the agency can create a master list of sorts that could help state-led institutions more easily begin purchasing local food. The Department of Agriculture is also in charge of creating enforcement policies, all without any new funding, Leonhardt said.
“This is another unfunded mandate, that we’re going to gladly pick up the mantle and do it, but it’s going to strain our resources a little bit,” he said, adding regardless, he is excited by the possibilities. “I believe once we get all the rules in place, I think that the economic development and the return to the state through that economic development will help more than offset the cost.”
Credit Brittany Patterson / WVPB
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WVPB
The salad bar at James Monroe High School.
Back at James Monroe High School, lunch is winding down. The self-serve salad bar looks like a tornado blew through it.
That makes head cook Kimberly Gusler smile. She said she’d love to see more schools offer locally sourced foods.
“I think it would be a great thing for them, I really do,” she said. “For kids to get more nutrition through their meals because the fresh food is the best food.”
Ron Miller has resigned his seat in the West Virginia Senate to work on agriculture issues in the administration of Gov. Jim Justice.
Miller, a Democrat from Greenbrier County, resigned Thursday.
West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt says in a news release that with Miller’s hiring, “we are moving full steam ahead to grow agriculture in our state.”
Miller was elected to the Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
West Virginia officials are warning farmers about the possibility that their hay could be contaminated by recent flooding.
The state Agriculture Department said in a news release feeding contaminated hay to animals can be dangerous.
The agency said forages that are affected by flood waters become contaminated with soil, bacteria and debris. Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt recommends that farmers make sure they know where hay comes from before buying it.
The department said not to feed bales that aren’t sealed on both ends and said some individually plastic-wrapped baleage may be usable. Farmers should closely inspect bales for punctures or separation of plastic layers. If the plastic separates, discard the forage. If it remains intact until feeding, inspect for abnormal smells or colors and presence of molds or excess moisture.
Governor Jim Justice says West Virginia has opportunities to expand farming and jobs with fertile soil and good climate, rainfall and temperatures for growing, calling for state’s reconstituted Agriculture Advisory Board to advance them.
The first-year governor, whose family businesses include farms, says he wants West Virginia to find a niche crop to market to the world, also noting that it is within 600 miles (966 kilometers) of two-thirds of the U.S. population and those markets.
Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt recently relaunched the board, saying it was established to develop a strategic plan for the state’s agriculture but has been inactive for several years.
The board consists of the governor, commissioner and the director of the cooperative extension service of West Virginia University.
