Agriculture is Virginia's largest private industry. It says so right there on the state's website: "Agriculture is Virginia's largest private industry."
Within agriculture, soybeans are Virginia's biggest cash crop. Virginia farmers grow $351.6 million worth of soybeans every year. Soybeans aren't really a thing in Southwest Virginia, but they are elsewhere in the state, with yields increasing the further east you go. The Eastern Shore harvests more soybeans than anywhere else in the state.
How big are soybeans in Virginia? Virginia's soybean crop is almost five times more valuable than the state's tobacco crop, and we're a state whose history is entwined with that crop. Tobacco has the glamour of tradition and controversy, but soybeans are where the money is. Virginia Tech conducts research into soybeans to figure out how to increase yield. Governors tout soybeans and look for ways for the state to sell more of them. A report a few years ago estimated that Virginia has 2,180 jobs related to soybeans.
Now consider this: Virginia has the potential to add a cash crop that could be even bigger than soybeans — and an industry that, in terms of sheer number of jobs, would rival Amazon's vaunted HQ2 in Arlington. All it would take to add $350 million to $500 million to the state's agricultural output and perhaps 22,000 jobs to the state's workforce is a smidge of ink. Unfortunately for those who are in favor of this new cash crop, the ink required must come from the pen of Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has made it clear he has no interest in this crop. I refer, of course, to cannabis.
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