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West Virginia Department of Agriculture seeks funds for 'West Virginia Grown', food-as-medicine, labs and vet‑tech program
Summary
The Department of Agriculture told the Senate Finance Committee it seeks $1 million for the West Virginia Grown and Food Is Medicine initiatives, $250,000 for a pilot commercial kitchen, $400,000 for scientific staff salaries, and funds for laboratory upgrades and a vet‑tech program; the department raised enforcement and staffing needs for hemp and kratom products.
Commissioner Leonhart and agency staff told the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 21 that the West Virginia Department of Agriculture needs new funding to expand market access for producers, staff specialized scientific positions and modernize aging laboratory infrastructure.
Deputy Commissioner Amy Minor Richard outlined requests including $1,000,000 to support the West Virginia Grown branding program and the Food Is Medicine initiative for administration, outreach, training and technical assistance, and an additional $250,000 to seed a commercial kitchen pilot in the Kanawha Valley to help producers scale and access larger markets. "We currently have staff that are spread throughout the state and embedded directly into the communities that they serve," she said.
The department also requested $400,000 in personal services to retain technical and scientific staff who perform laboratory testing and regulatory work. Agency officials said several lab facilities are outdated — some built in the 1950s and the 1980s — and described an ongoing need for BSL‑3 capable space for higher-risk testing. Leonhart noted a $50,000,000 appropriation to West Virginia State University for an agricultural school but said that represented only about 5% of the Department's total laboratory needs.
On workforce and education, department staff described a proposed "Vet Start" four-year veterinary technician program with West Virginia State University and West Virginia University to address shortages in large-animal veterinary care and to create hands-on training opportunities; the department projected the program could support more than 600 jobs statewide. The agency also requested funding for apiarist support (one full-time state apiarist currently covers the entire state) and additional temporary staff during high-demand periods.
Agency officials outlined capital and special-revenue requests as well: $3,000,000 requested for the fees fund (Fund 1401) to maintain field operations, $7,000,000 of spending authority for the agriculture capital improvements fund (Fund 1413) included in the governor's bill, and continuation of the spay/neuter program that distributed grants across all 55 counties in 2025.
Commissioner Leonhart also highlighted enforcement challenges around hemp, kratom and illicit THC products. He said the department confiscated more than 12,000 illegal products in 2025 and described coordination with ABCA and law enforcement; Millie Taylor, assistant director of the hemp program, described summary suspensions for failure to register and local prosecutions that can accompany enforcement visits.
The department asked the committee to consider the proposed appropriations and spending authority to support program expansion, public-health testing and infrastructure upgrades. Leonhart summarized the agency as an economic driver and urged additional investment to expand the department's capacity to connect farmers to markets, improve food safety testing and support rural economic development.
What comes next: The department's funding requests will be included in the committee's deliberations on budget bills and appropriation schedules; staff offered to provide additional fiscal details on hemp tax revenue splits and enforcement costs at senators' requests.
