Agriculture & Natural Resources

Welcome

Berkeley County is home to many small farms producing diverse commodities from fruit to honey, grain to meat, and dairy to poultry. Diverse farming operations offer diverse habitats of fields and hedgerows, orchards and woodlands for area wildlife to live, forage and rear young. Whether you are a back yard gardener, an orchardist, or a farmer, our focus is to be your local connection to up-to-date agricultural information. Scroll to bottom of page for links to external agriculture organizations and agencies in the local area.

Lawn, Gardening & Pests

This Month in the Garden Calendar

Reviving the Heirloom Rutabaga

Highland grassy sites in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia were popular sites for potato and rutabaga farming in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rutabagas (Brassica napus) are a cool season root crop in the Brassica family and, in many ways, are a larger version of a turnip. 

Rutabaga comes from rotabagge, the plant’s Swedish name which means “baggy root.” This cross between a cabbage and a turnip is sometimes called a Swedish turnip or swede. In West Virginia, it also has been referred to as a Hanover. 

More from the Garden Calendar

Eastern Panhandle News

Beef Quality Assurance

The Eastern Panhandle will host a Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training on Wednesday, February 14 from from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Location for the program will be:

WVU Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research, Education, and Outreach Center
67 Apple Harvest Lane
Kearneysville, WV 25430

Read about Beef Quality Assurance

Ag Winter Dinner Meetings at Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research Center

The Agriculture Education Winter Dinner Meeting Series returns in 2024, with two topics for livestock producers being held at the Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research Center.

Thursday, January 11, 2024
Dr. Darin Matlick, WVU Extension Veterinarian, will be speaking on Dystocia & Tick Management

Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Greg Halich, Associate Extension Professor at University of Kentucky, will be speaking on  Bale Grazing as a simple, cheap, effective way to winter cattle.

Both programs will be held at the Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research Center. The meal will begin at  6:30 p.m., with the educational program to follow at 7 p.m. Pesticide credits are available.

Read about Ag Winter Dinner Meetings at Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research Center

Gardening Workshop in Martinsburg, WV on March 2, 2024

Join the Berkeley-Jefferson WVU Extension Master Gardener Association for a morning of gardening workshops to kick off the 2024 growing season. This year, the program will include nine sessions to choose from, with topics geared towards beginner gardeners, intermediate gardeners, and advanced gardeners. 

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Read about Gardening Workshop in Martinsburg, WV on March 2, 2024

Farm Financial Analysis

Join us on January 13, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. for an Educational Dinner Meeting at the Kearneysville Tree Fruit Research Center.

This meeting will feature Brian Wickline, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent. The presentation will focus on Farm Financial Analysis.

Read about Farm Financial Analysis

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