May 30, 2025 VAC Member e-Newsletter

In this Issue

DeLong Co Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony on Ag Export Facility in Portsmouth
VAC Joins 365 Ag Groups Calling on Congress to Enact Ag Labeling Uniformity Act
Latest on MAHA Report
VAC Member Selected for DEQ Pilot Program

Agriculture Career Opportunities
USDA to Provide $1 Billion to Livestock Producers Impacted by Drought or Wildfire in 2023 and 2024
VAC Annual Golf Classic

DeLong Company Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony

on Ag Export Facility in Portsmouth

Pictured: Local, federal, and state officials celebrate the groundbreaking with VAC member and President of DeLong Company, Chris DeLong.

VAC President and CEO Trey Davis and Vice-Chairman of VAC Board of Directors Jim Riddell attended the groundbreaking ceremony for DeLong’s new export facility in Portsmouth on Thursday, May 29.

The project will feature 15,000 metric tons of storage capacity, as well as infrastructure for truck and rail transport. It is expected to handle between 15,000 and 20,000 containers annually, primarily filled with grain products like soybeans. It will have the capability to receive unit trains and transload products into containers for export.

When a truck or train comes into the terminal, the soybeans, corn, wheat, DDGs, or soybean meal will be transferred into shipping containers bound for Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. VAC is proud to have DeLong Company as a new member and congratulates them on their new investment to increase agricultural exports in the Commonwealth!

READ MORE>> DeLong Co Breaks Ground on Major Agricultural Export Facility in Portsmouth, WTKR News

Virginia Agribusiness Council Joins 365 Ag Groups Calling on Congress to Enact Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act

Earlier this week, 365 agricultural and related groups sent a letter calling on Congress to enact the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act, a bipartisan bill the groups say is needed to protect access for farmers and the public to safe, well-regulated pesticides. The effort was organized by the American Soybean Association.

VAC and the other groups—which represent millions of pesticide users from farmers to scientists, and mosquito control to public land managers—say the legislation would reaffirm and clarify long-standing provisions in federal pesticide law regarding labeling requirements.

Why it matters: Since the 1970s, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act has contained provisions that prevent states from imposing labeling requirements in addition to or different from federal requirements. Yet, the groups warned in the letter that recent state labeling requirements, “directly and unjustifiably contradict EPA’s scientific findings on pesticide safety. These actions risk creating an unworkable, inconsistent patchwork of state pesticide labels that can quickly disrupt commerce and access to these much-needed tools.” The groups are concerned that if contradictory labels are required on the same package, it could lead to products being pulled from the market.

Dive deeper: Supporting the enactment of the Agriculture Labeling Uniformity Act, which was introduced last Congress by Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Jim Costa (D-CA), is only the most recent effort farm groups have pursued to bring clarity to pesticide labeling. Earlier this month, 12 national and state agricultural groups filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear a case on whether states could require glyphosate to carry a cancer warning label despite repeated findings from EPA and other regulators around the globe that it is not a carcinogen. In March, nearly 300 groups supported a petition from several state attorneys general to conduct clarifying rulemaking at EPA on pesticide labels. Many groups also have been supporting state legislative efforts that reaffirm federal labeling law, including recent state laws passed in Georgia and North Dakota.

Latest on MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Report

MAHA Report Cites Non-Existent Studies to Back Up ‘Brazenly Unscientific’ Claims

Concerns are growing throughout the agriculture community this week as media outlets sound the alarm on citations for scientific studies that don’t exist in the recently released Make America Healthy Again Commission report.

NOTUS reported that the document cites over 500 studies and other sources—but a large number of them are “rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions.” Seven of the listed sources cannot be confirmed or found anywhere.

Dozens of agriculture and farm groups agreed, expressing extreme concern that the MAHA report contains recommendations that are not at all grounded in science and seem to advance the agenda of food elitists and activist groups that have long sought to undermine U.S. agriculture.

Next steps: The commission is now tasked with drafting a full national strategy due in August.

VAC Member MOVA Technologies selected for DEQ Pilot Program

MOVA Technologies was selected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for its Pay-for-Outcomes Nonpoint Source Pollution Pilot Program. This is a significant milestone for the team and a meaningful recognition of the impact their FEATHER system can make for poultry growers and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Below is some news coverage on the program.

Pulaski Company's $1.3 Million Poultry Poop Proposition

MOVA Technologies is one of nine companies in the state participating in a 'pay-for-outcomes' $19 million grant.

by Tad Dickens, Cardinal News

MOVA Technologies Awarded $1.3 Million in Grants Funds From Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

by Mason Willett, WHSV-3 News

Agriculture Career Opportunities

Are you or someone you know looking for a career in agribusiness? Check out the listings below from our VAC members. Please let us know if you have an opportunity to share!

Account Manager for Maola Local Dairies - sales position for a cooperative of family farmers who are passionate about cultivating sustainable dairy goodness and bottling fresh Maola brand milk and dairy products.

JOB DESCRIPTION >>

Agriculture Development Specialist at Virginia Farm Bureau Federation - come work for the state’s largest agricultural organization and assist with the identification and communication of structural changes in agricultural production, marketing and finance, and the rural economy that could affect producers’ profitability.

JOB DESCRIPTION>>

USDA to Provide $1 Billion to Livestock Producers

Impacted by Drought or Wildfire in 2023 and 2024

Assistance for Flood-Impacted Producers Coming Summer 2025

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the release of Congressionally mandated Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments to cover grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events in 2023 and/or 2024.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is leveraging existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) data to streamline payment calculations and expedite relief. Emergency relief payments are automatically issued for producers who have an approved LFP application on file for 2023 and/or 2024.

The American Relief Act, 2025, provided funds for emergency relief payments. This program is the first of two programs authorized to assist with eligible losses suffered by livestock producers. FSA will announce additional ELRP assistance for other losses authorized by the Act, including flooding, later this summer.

ELRP Eligibility 

ELRP payment eligibility requires livestock producers to have suffered grazing losses in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks or a D3 (extreme drought) or higher level of drought intensity during 2023, 2024, or both calendar years, and have applied and been approved for LFP. Additionally, producers whose permitted grazing on federally managed lands was reduced due to wildfire are also eligible for ELRP, if they applied and were approved for LFP in 2023, 2024, or both calendar years.

Supplemental Disaster Assistance Timeline

USDA is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act, 2025. On May 7, they launched their 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked. The page is updated regularly and accessible through fsa.usda.gov.

To learn more visit the ELRP website.