RICHMOND—Last year’s severe drought and turbulent weather resulted in a mixed bag for the state’s crop production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service annual crop production report for Virginia.
The Jan. 10 report indicated that in 2024 Virginia corn, flue-cured tobacco and hay production declined from 2023, while harvested cotton, peanuts and soybeans increased. The USDA surveyed over 1,300 farmers across the commonwealth for a snapshot of annual production.
Corn production showed the biggest decline, down an estimated 40% from 2023’s crop. Virginia’s farmers harvested 65,000 fewer acres compared to 2023 with yields of114 bushels per acre, a 43-bushel or 27% decline.
The significant drop is attributed to severe drought conditions followed by heavy rainfall during the growing season.
“We weren’t off on the acres we planted, it was just how the weather played out,” said Robert Harper, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s grain division manager. “It didn’t rain in most of the state for seven weeks—late May, all of June and the first week of July. Coupled with hot weather, that cut the corn yield dramatically.”
Continuous high temperatures and hot nights stunted corn growth and prevented it from maturing properly.
“And then it started raining and didn’t stop, so a lot of the corn molded,” Harper explained. Due to poor quality, what couldn’t be sold as animal feed was “destroyed and bush hogged.”
Weather woes also stressed the state’s hay production, with alfalfa hay forecasted to decline 20% and other hay production down 12%. Flue-cured tobacco production is estimated at 25.4 million pounds, down 12%. The yield per acre was estimated at 2,050 pounds, a decrease of 250 pounds from 2023’s crop.
While last year was difficult for Virginia’s corn, hay and tobacco growers, those who raised soybeans fared better.
The state’s soybean production is estimated at 26.4 million bushels, a 22% jump from 2023. Harvested acreage was estimated at 600,000 acres, up 30,000 acres, and yields were 44 bushels per acre, a 6-bushel increase from the previous year.
“The irony is that when the rains came, that promoted soybean growth,” Harper noted. “It’s all about the growing timeframe.”
Cotton production also ticked up in 2024 with an overall 10% increase. Although yields were down a slight 29 pounds per acre from 2023, producers harvested 90,000 acres—up 10,000 acres. Virginia peanuts totaled 149 million pounds in 2024, up 7%, and yields are estimated to increase to 4,950 pounds per acre—150 pounds over 2023’s numbers.
Gary Cross, who grows cotton, peanuts, corn, wheat and soybeans in Southampton County, said while cotton yields were down “just a touch,” Virginia saw “a good peanut year.”
Peanuts and cotton “can wait around and take advantage of a late July and August rain,” explained Cross, a member of the VFBF board of directors and chair of the VFBF cotton and peanut advisory committees. “Peanuts needed the rain during the time of year that it came.”
Cross noted that last year’s varied growing season taxed farmers who are already dealing with high input costs and low crop prices, and relying on crop insurance to cover losses “is just a band aid.
“It’s a negative for corn, and you have to have a big crop of soybeans to make a $10 (per bushel) soybean pay off,” he said. “But it’s just what we’re used to.”
-Virginia Farm Bureau
