Gordon Groover, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension economist, and leader of its agricultural and applied economics Extension program, has been conferred the title of associate professor emeritus by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university.

A member of the university community since 1979, Groover made significant contributions to Virginia through his work in farm management.

His focus was economic decision making, including the development and delivery of research-based agricultural business management programs that improved financial decision-making. In doing so, he improved the economic vitality of individual businesses and the Virginia agricultural sector.

Groover was a leader, coordinator, and mentor to the farm business management Extension program. He trained production agriculture and farm management Extension agents for more than 25 years, including the development and presentation of more than 40 in-service training events.

He personally mentored more than 36 farm business management Extension agents who, in turn, obtained external grants in support of educational programs that have directly improved Virginia farm businesses and the lives of farm families.

He was director of the Virginia’s agricultural use value taxation program, which receives its direct support from the Virginia General Assembly.

The program provides a critical and rational economic basis for public support of Virginia farmers’ economic viability and is an integral element of local governments’ property tax system. More than 75 percent of Virginia’s counties and cities use the values estimated by this program to develop their agricultural land taxation assessments.

Groover provided the leadership to establish and deliver the Computer Classroom on Wheels program that targeted early adopters of farm computer technology.

Along with agents and colleagues, he taught computerized financial recordkeeping and decision analysis to 1,900 Virginia farmers. The program was entirely supported by external grants and sustained by user fees and provided a framework for instruction of computer applications to farmers by Extension, vocationa,l and technical centers, and community colleges across the United States and Canada.

Groover provided critical information to Extension agents, farmers, policymakers, and government personnel, a critical element to a statewide program in applied economics and management. He conducted research and developed and published more than 130 statewide crop, livestock, and vegetable enterprise budgets biennially that were used as cost-of-production estimates by agents, undergraduate and graduate students, state and federal agencies, lenders, and consultants.

In 1992, he also established the Farm Business Management Update to provide agents and statewide media with a reliable source of timely economic information affecting agriculture and rural communities.

Groover earned his bachelor's and master’s degrees and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Share this story