Agriculture

Joel Baxley, acting assistant to the secretary for rural development, recently announced the names of 47 rural communities and regions, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, that will receive technical assistance to help create and implement long-term economic development plans.

The census provides the most widely used statistics in the agriculture industry. It is the leading source of statistics about the USVI's agricultural production and the only source of comprehensive, comparable data at the island level.

Commissioner of Agriculture Positive T.A. Nelson will hold a conference Saturday as the territory prepares for the rollout of medical marijuana. The Medical Cannabis Conference – CannaVal – will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the St. Croix Educational Complex.

This environmental incentives program is a voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to help them install and implement conservation practices on eligible agricultural land.

During a government shutdown, agencies that receive mandatory funding or have funds appropriated in prior years that are carried forward can continue to serve customers using that money.

In partnership with Ridge to Reef Farm Hub, based on St. Croix, the School Food Authority exposed students to new ways to incorporate fresh, local produce into their daily meals.

Sydney Spence Gruters, the state director for U.S. Department of Agriculture -- Rural Development in Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

$163,475,000 is available for repairs to drinking water systems as well as sewer and solid waste disposal systems that were impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

The Senepol Cattle Breeders Association has awarded the Fritz E. Lawaetz Award to Robert Godfrey, Ph.D., director of the Agricultural Experiment Station and Professor of Animal Science at the University of the Virgin Islands.

The program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.