Central Virginia farms, agricultural businesses receive $1.75M to strengthen food systems

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Three Central Virginia farms and agricultural businesses are among those receiving over $4.9 million in federal grants to strengthen food systems across the commonwealth.

The office of the governor on Friday, Feb. 13, announced 12 Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RSFI) grants for Virginia farms, agricultural businesses, nonprofits and more. The grants aim to help local and regional food systems.

Among the recipients are Browntown Farms in Brunswick County, Central Virginia Poultry Cooperative Inc. in Burkesville and New Hill Development Corporation in Charlottesville. They were awarded over $1.75 million in grants in total.

Browntown Farms was awarded $253,312 to upgrade its cold storage and warehouse structure, according to a release. The grant will benefit local specialty crop growers and allow the farm to collaborate with local food hubs, buyers and resources.

Central Virginia Poultry Cooperative Inc. will receive $538,083 to support its aggregation, storage and distribution of cage-free, free-range and pasture-raised eggs.

The grant allows the cooperative to purchase 2,925 egg flat shuttles to store and transport over 10,000 eggs per shuttle to nearby cash markets. This, in turn, will allow at least 12 farm members to transition from broiler to egg production, increasing their flock to about two million hens and generating about $37 million in annual egg sales.

New Hill Development Corporation was awarded $962,958 to construct an 11,300-square-foot shared-use commercial kitchen that serves producers in the surrounding region. The facility will also provide space for produce processing.

According to the release, New Hill plans to create 65 new jobs, benefit 125 producers and 70 food businesses and establish five new market outlets.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture grants will be administered by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.