Julia Hillegass hopes that she can help Suffolk farmers keep farming through new programs and resource hubs, as well as seed the next generation of agriculturalists by partnering with Suffolk Public Schools.
Agriculture advocates in Suffolk are optimistic that the city’s new agricultural specialist will renew the focus on the needs and perspectives of farmers at City Hall.
“I think that the industry as a whole has been a bit neglected,” she said. “They want to have more of a presence and consideration in things like comprehensive and long-term planning and encouraging agribusinesses as part of the economic development picture.”
It’s something farmers like David Bosselman, chair of Suffolk’s agricultural advisory committee, say has long been missing.
Agriculture is sown deep in the soil of Suffolk's history. The city was called the “Peanut Capital of the World” by the middle of the last century, remaining a big processor of the legume. It was once the manufacturing headquarters of the Planters Nut & Chocolate Company and continues as home to a Planters processing facility.
While peanuts remain in the city's DNA and branding, many growers have shifted to other crops, including soybeans, corn and cotton. Agriculture boasts more than $60 million in annual revenue, according to Hillegass. Chicken farms are also significant, with the city’s poultry and egg operations ranking nationally in the top 20%.
But those numbers don’t paint the full picture, Bosselman said.
“Agriculture in the city of Suffolk is in distress,” he said.
Bosselman, also chair of the Chuckatuck administrative area for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, said Suffolk farmers face pressure from warehousing, solar and housing companies seeking land for new development.
Farmers see a tight financial picture: Their costs are increasing, some crops bring in less money than it takes to grow and harvest them, and tariffs threaten to further drop commodity prices. Bosselman said that makes offers from developers a tempting prospect.
He estimated that Suffolk loses between 1.5 and 2% of farmland annually. According to Hillegass, the city has more than 41,000 acres of agricultural land. About 30% of farm producers are over 65.
Bosselman envisions a vastly diminished agricultural sector in 20 years if nothing changes.
“Might be a few spots here and yonder, but a lot of people will be pushed out.”
Bosselman credits resident pressure for Suffolk reviving the agricultural advisory committee he chairs and deciding to hire an agricultural specialist.
“Very impressed with Julia so far,” he said. “I think this puts us in a good position. I think, if allowed, she can help us.”
City Councilmember Shelley Butler Barlow said Tim Johnson was the first council member to advocate bringing back the agricultural advisory committee.
Council approved the committee around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed its first meetings until 2021. Shelley Butler Barlow, also a farmer, was a citizen advocate for the committee and was briefly appointed to the body before being appointed to council to fill the Chuckatuck Borough seat vacated by the newly elected Mayor Mike Duman.
It took until 2024 to secure funding for Hillegass’ position, which Butler Barlow called a “huge milestone.” She said it was the first time Suffolk had a staff position for agriculture in the 50 years since it merged with Nansemond County.
“We control a lot of land, but we are a small population so I think it was easy for the rural community to kind of get marginalized,” Butler Barlow said. “If no one is elevating the importance of your cause, there’s too much going on in city government. It’s going to get put aside.”
Hillegass has been on the job for nearly two months. She came from Virginia Beach’s Department of Agriculture, where she coordinated the agricultural reserve program. The program, created in the 1990s, is focused on conserving land and keeping working farms.
Farmers in the program sell development rights to the city and agree to set land aside for agricultural production. In return, the farmer gets twice-annual tax-free interest payments for 25 years financed through a form of bond. A balloon payment of the bond principal is paid out at the end of the 25-year term.
The program creates an influx of capital that farmers can use for expansion, equipment or other needs.
“It's a valuable financial tool particularly in areas of farmland that are experiencing intense development pressure,” Hillegass said.
Since the 1990s, almost half of Virginia Beach’s 22,000 acres of agricultural land have been captured in these conservation easements. Hillegass said the program could serve as a model for Suffolk, though finding the money to fund it could take time. She hopes to see a pilot program in three to five years.
She also wants to bolster the network of farmer’s markets, do more to promote agritourism and create a clearinghouse of farm resources and assistance programs. Hillegass plans to work with Suffolk’s schools for students to learn about and cultivate job skills in agriculture.
“We have sort of a crisis in agriculture education right now,” she said.
This could be coupled with the revival of FFA chapter presence in all schools, she said.
Butler Barlow hopes Hillegass’ hire is a step toward Suffolk forming an agriculture department.
The city charter drafted in 1974 called for creating a department of farm and home demonstration, to be headed by an agricultural agent from what’s now Virginia Tech. That never happened.
“What I hope is that Julia has more work than she can handle and at some point we can justify another position and then maybe all the way up to having a full-fledged department,” Butler Barlow said.
