US (VA): CEA Farms produces fresh vegetables year-round
With a long history of farming in Loudoun, the Virts family of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) Farms in Purcellville has found an innovative way to produce fresh vegetables year-round.
The Virts Family has deep roots in Loudoun.
They started farming in the 1780s at their property off Old Wheatland Road in Waterford.
In 1972, Donald Virts, Sr. and his wife Mary Jane, purchased 350 acres at Route 9 and Purcellville Road from Arthur Godfrey, the conservation/preservationist and well-known radio talk show host.
Since then, this land has been used to raise beef cattle and produce row crops.
Donald Virts Jr., who currently owns the farm with his brother Dennis, are the 12th generation in their family to farm the land.
However, he said the dynamics have changed and now it has become costly to farm row crops and it is difficult to make a profit.
“In the last few years we grew some of the best crops of my life, but we could not make a living at it,” Virts said.
So he decided to lead the farm in a new direction and make a change.
Read the full story at the Loudoun Times-Mirror