Virginia in the spotlight at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition
Virginia will be featured at the 2007 Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition to be held Oct. 16-18 in Moultrie, Ga. Virginia's exhibit, "Virginia Agriculture: Proud History, Prosperous Future," will highlight the role Virginia has played in the history of agriculture as well as showcase new directions being explored today.
Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, are sponsoring the Virginia exhibit.
“Virginia has an incredibly diverse agricultural industry, and we look forward to showcasing that diversity at the Sunbelt Expo,” said Jim Riddell, Extension’s associate director for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the Sunbelt planning team. “We hope that visitors to our exhibit will get to know a little more about the many products in Virginia, as well as the ways Virginia is working to ensure a prosperous future for agriculture.”
A replica of the original Cyrus McCormick reaper, one of the most revolutionary advances in the history of agriculture, will be on display, along with information about its development in Virginia. The reaper will be side-by-side with examples of today’s cutting-edge technology – everything from autonomous aerial vehicles that collect plant disease spores from the atmosphere, and GPS and GIS systems that help producers use their land most efficiently, to robotic lawn mowers that may help control the spread of turf diseases. The exhibit will also highlight the rapidly growing horticulture and nursery industry.
No exhibit of Virginia agriculture would be complete without a showcase of the wide variety of food commodities produced in the commonwealth. Virginia’s agriculture is diverse and plentiful, and visitors will be able to both see and sample examples of that bounty. Visitors to the Virginia tent will be treated to samples of two traditional Virginia products: country ham and apple cider.
The Sunbelt Expo is the largest farm show in the Southeast. More than 1,200 exhibitors will showcase the latest in agricultural technology to 200,000-plus farmers, homeowners, and agriculture industry vendors who attend the show each year.
