Crop Aggregation Facility Designed to Help Farmers Opens

West Virginia’s first crop aggregation facility designed to help local farmers has opened in Huntington.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that Tuesday’s opening ceremony of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s Huntington Aggregation Center included a demonstration of several pieces of new equipment that will be used at the facility.

The facility also gave local farmers a glimpse of how it could help them prepare their products for marketing.

State Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick says the facility will serve as a crop aggregation point for farmers. He says the goal is to capture some of the approximately $6 billion that state residents spend on agricultural products produced outside the state.

Helmick calls the facility a $475,000 investment that will help small farmers reach larger customer bases.