Reassurances are coming in that the state animal health laboratory in Wytheville won’t be closed in the near future. Farmers and local officials, however, remain concerned.
Thursday, Smyth County Administrator Shawn Utt reported that in conversations he had with agriculture officials in Richmond he was assured that that the region shouldn’t worry about the recommended closure.
On Friday, state Sen. Todd Pillion included a detailed statement in his weekly update about the current General Assembly session. Pillion wrote, “My office has fielded many concerns in recent months concerning the results of a 2022 report to the Secretary of Agriculture which recommended closure of the state lab in Wytheville. Our legislative delegation has engaged the administration regarding this recommendation and the impact the closure would have on Southwest Virginia’s producers. During a meeting today with the Secretary and Commissioner, we received a commitment that no closure would occur during this administration.”
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The senator continued, “Southwest Virginia legislators will continue to monitor the situation and ongoing work of the advisory committee regarding the 2022 report and recommendations.”
Still, the Smyth County Board of Supervisors decided that it wants its opposition on the record in the hopes that the position would stand the test of time, even beyond the current administration.
The topic came to public attention last fall as farmers and veterinarians from throughout the area learned of a review of the state lab system that included a recommendation to have just one or two central labs in Virginia. The state now has labs in Wytheville, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg and Warrenton.
The review said that Virginia is one of the last states to have multiple labs.
The report recommended that the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) develop a multi-year transition plan to shift to two state-of-the-art facilities in Harrisonburg and Blacksburg in collaboration with the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
The laboratory system provides regulatory and diagnostic testing for veterinarians, food manufacturers, agricultural animal producers, pet owners and other government program areas.
A November meeting at the Wytheville Meeting Center drew about 150 people who overwhelmingly opposed the plan to close the Southwest Virginia lab.
Thursday, Smyth Supervisor Phil Stevenson shared a concern that echoed many of the comments made in November. He said the time to get test results would double if the Wytheville lab is closed.
Last fall, VDACS Commissioner Joe Guthrie said the agency sought the review to see what is being done right at the labs and what needs to improve. The main goal, officials said, was to strengthen Virginia’s lab system that, according to the report, ranks in the middle to bottom tier of labs nationwide.
Thursday evening, the Smyth supervisors asked Utt to draft a resolution opposing the closure.
Given that Smyth County has two cows for every person, Supervisors’ Chair Charlie Atkins, who is also a farmer, said he would prefer to adopt a resolution rather than send a letter. He wanted the county’s position to have teeth, he said.
The Smyth supervisors were following the example of the Grayson County Board of Supervisors, which adopted such a resolution on Jan. 12.
Noting that the market value of Grayson’s livestock, poultry and related products is greater than $30 million, the resolution said that animal owners “would face the added expense to haul whole animal specimens an additional 53 miles to Blacksburg and an additional two hours of travel time for necropsies.” At the same time, the document acknowledged animal owners are dealing with “new and ongoing animal disease threats such as Theileriosis, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, Equine Infectious Anemia, and others that result in animal mortality and severe economic loss.”
The Grayson resolution also said that “local veterinarians and livestock owners have experienced delays in response from the” Blacksburg veterinary school’s “diagnostic services when compared to responses from the” Wytheville lab.
Following the recommendation of the Grayson County Agriculture Advisory Committee, the supervisors adopted the resolution opposing the Wytheville lab’s closure.