Virginia’s agricultural outputs include poultry, soybeans, peanuts, cattle, dairy products, and hay. The state is a leading producer of turkeys and broiler chickens.
It is ranked high for the production of soybeans and seventh for peanuts.
Virginia also ranks in the top ten for the production of cattle, dairy products, and hay.
Plant Hardiness Zone
Let us take a quick look at the map showing the US Plant Hardiness Zone published in 2012.
Plant Hardiness Zone Map for Virginia
The state of Virginia belongs to zone 5-8a.
The climate is humid, subtropical with hot summers and relatively mild but crisp winters, and moderate rainfall throughout the year.
The average coastal temperatures rarely exceed 90˚F, while in winters there is often snow.
Precipitation
The annual rainfall in Virginia is 43 inches distributed evenly throughout the state. Summer is the wettest season, while the winters receive the least precipitation.
Snowfall occurs mainly from December to March and receives around 8 inches around the coast to 25 inches in the mountains.
Soil Type
The map below shows the soil distribution in the state.
Soil Order Of Virginia
| Soil / Sub Order | Location | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Appalachian ridges and valleys/Ultisol and Inceptisol | west | 1. Have a udic soil moisture regime and thermic or mesic soil temperature regime 2. Are dominantly well-drained, strongly acid, and highly leached 3. Have a clay enriched subsoil 4. range from shallow on sandstone and shale ridges to very deep in valleys and on large limestone formations |
| Blue ridge mountains/Ultisols and Inceptisols | East to the Appalachian ridges and valleys | 1. soil moisture regime is udic 2. soil temperature regime typically is music, but it is frigid at elevations above 4,200 feet |
| Southern Piedmont/Ultisols, Inceptisols, and Alfisols | Southern central | 1. have a thermic soil temperature regime, a udic soil moisture regime, and kaolinitic or mixed mineralogy 2. shallow to very deep, generally well-drained, and loamy or clayey |
| Northern Piedmont/Ultisols, Inceptisols, and Alfisols | Northern central | 1. shallow to deep 2. gently sloping to steep soils formed in residuum from acidic or basic rocks |
| Upper and middle Coastal Plain/Ultisol and Entisol | Northeast | 1. Deep to very deep 2. Nearly level to sloping soils formed in unconsolidated sediments of the Coastal plain and river terraces 3. Dominantly above 30 feet elevation |
| Lower Coastal Plain/Ultisol and Entisol | Southeast | 1. Deep, nearly level, and gently sloping soils formed in unconsolidated sediments of the Coastal Plain or inorganic materials 2. Dominantly less than 30 feet elevation |
