A new project is working to get more native plant seeds into the market in the southern Piedmont area of Virginia.
“The southern Piedmont is home to Virginia’s most diverse ecological communities,” said Leighton Reid, assistant professor of ecological restoration at Virginia Tech. He added this area also has the greatest number of projected utility scale solar developments. “Those solar farms could be installed in places that are currently farms or natural communities.”
In some cases, local ordinances require solar developers to plant native plants, and residents are increasingly looking to plant species that support birds and pollinators. But there’s a problem.
“One of the greatest bottlenecks in ecosystem restoration is the native seed supply chain,” Reid said.
The only option is to buy seeds from out of state, and some aren’t available at all. So Reid and a team of collaborators from across Virginia are working to partner with growers in the southern Piedmont region to help them grow native seeds.
The project is backed by a grant of nearly $700,000 from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Equal Conservation Opportunities program, which aims to expand conservation assistance to farmers who are new to farming, low income, socially disadvantaged, or military veterans.
Reid said many of the native plants from the southern Piedmont are grasses and sedges, many of which will grow amidst harsh conditions. “These plants are tough in the face of climate change. They’re adapted to places where it’s too hot and too dry in some places, for trees to be able to grow.”
Their goal is to get 10 species of native grasses, sedges and wildflowers from the Piedmont region into the market by 2026.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
