Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday declared a state of emergency and issued an executive order in an effort to remedy ongoing drought conditions across the commonwealth.
The declaration aims to activate support for farmers who have been affected by the lack of rain and subsequent low hay production.
Spanberger’s Executive Order 21 will allow hay to be transported quickly and efficiently to farms across the commonwealth by reducing regulations regarding its transport on Virginia’s highways. With over-width exemption waivers for carriers transporting hay, trucks can increase their loads and accelerate feed delivery to farms and livestock producers, like the Knoll Crest Farm in Campbell County.
Persistent drought conditions have caused a statewide hay shortfall of 500,000 tons. Virginia produced 2,527,000 tons of hay in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“My whole take on it is it’s a problem to solve,” Dalton Bennett said of the dry season and the low hay production caused by the drought. “That’s what we do Farmers solve problems.”
Bennett is a fourth-generation farmer at Knoll Crest Farm, where his family has specialized in bulls and cows since the 1940s.
His family’s farm has had to buy more hay this year to feed the roughly 800 mother cows and their offspring — a lot of mouths to feed and keep happy, he said. The Bennetts have included more silage — chopped corn plants — and purchased commodity feeds to keep their livestock fed.
“It’s been dry,” he said in a phone interview. “It was odd that it was so early. Typically, year after year, you have a wetter spring. But this year, spring was pretty dry, so we ended up with considerably less hay production. We kept thinking it was going to rain, and it never really rained.”
Spanberger’s emergency declaration and executive order also provide access to emergency funding for farmers, activate price gouging protections and authorize additional measures if necessary.
Persistent drought conditions have caused a 35% loss in hay yields statewide, with yield losses in some cases reaching 70%, according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
From the beginning of the grazing season through June, farmers had to feed their livestock hay for at least 30 of those 90 days due to poor pasture conditions because of the drought. Many local farms need assistance to make sure they have enough hay supplies going into winter to ensure livestock health, and deliveries of hay need to be moved into affected areas ahead of the winter feeding season to prevent further losses, the governor’s office said.
“The drought has placed real pressure on livestock producers across Virginia,” Spanberger said in a statement. “While we have seen improvement in drought conditions in some areas of the Commonwealth in recent weeks, the impacts of this prolonged dry period are still being felt by producers across Virginia.”
She added that her administration will continue working with farmers, agricultural partners and local communities to make sure they have the resources they need to weather these conditions and protect the agricultural economy.
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, commended the governor’s action to address the hay shortage affecting Virginia.
“Hay is an integral agricultural product supporting Virginia farmers, particularly those with cows and horses. But due to devastating drought challenges, access to hay supplies is dwindling,” he said in a statement issued by his office. “I will continue to advocate for our farming and rural communities as they try to access crop relief.”
As someone who is a self-described positive person, Bennett said that it’s not as bad as it could be. The last few years had been very good for farmers, and the amount of rain that the commonwealth got had been above average until this year. He said the dry spell is averaging out those past rainy seasons.
“I’m trying to stay very positive. It’s OK. It’s going to rain. Dad says it always rains at the end of a dry spell, and he’s right — we just don’t know when that’s going to be,” he said. “I’m not going to cry about it. I’m not going to get so upset about it.”
“I’d say for some people it is an emergency,” he said, and added that if the governor’s declaration helps some farmers, he’s glad she issued it.
The emergency order became effective on Sept. 16 and will remain in force for 45 days unless it is amended or rescinded. The over-width waiver will go into effect on Oct. 1and will remain in force for 30 days.
The 15-day period between the start of the order and the beginning of the over-width waiver will allow farmers time to source hay and transportation in order to maximize their use of the state-issued emergency waiver, which federal regulations limit to 30 days, the governor’s office said. Gross and axle weight limits remain strictly in effect.
