Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station

Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (VAES)

As a Land-grant university of Virginia, VAES expands on the Hatch Act of 1887's mission to perform basic and applied research on agricultural, environmental, natural, and community resource issues related to the future needs of Virginia, the region, the nation, and the world.

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The Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station (VAES) is the research enterprise for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including academic departments and off-campus agricultural research and Extension centers (ARECs). Our team includes >350 scientists located in three colleges on the VT campus: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE), and Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM). VAES, along with our partner Virginia Cooperative Extension, comprise the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Agency 229. Together with our partners across Virginia and around the world, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), VAES scientists and engineers are bringing innovation and securing agriculture, food, and health through basic and applied research.

Research is designed to provide knowledge that will enhance the quality of individual and family life and the social and economic vigor of Virginia. Researchers utilize the best techniques of qualitative and quantitative research to form the knowledge base for instruction of and application to the broader mission of the land-grant university.

Apart from serving the needs of Virginia's animal, plant, and seafood industries, VAES-supported research fosters conservation of natural resources and benefits consumers and all citizens of the state in rural, urban, and suburban communities. Discoveries resulting from VAES-supported research have facilitated economic development in the state in the form of start-up companies located in Virginia Tech's Corporate Research Center. In addition, the VAES research programs include numerous activities in the international arena.