Former Orange County Extension Agent Steve Hopkins has been named Virginia’s Farmer of the Year by the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition.
Hopkins, who operates Riverview Farms Cattle LLC in Louisa, spent nearly three decades as a Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent in Orange County. Hopkins operates the more than 1,200 acre farm with his wife, Crysti, and sons, Blake and Garrett. Hopkins is the sixth generation to lead the family farm which includes cattle, crops and poultry operations.
In addition to farming, Hopkins owns a consulting business, Central Virginia Cattlemen LLC, which markets feeder cattle through an annual state-graded sale. He also serves as the marketing director of the Central Virginia Cattleman’s Association, which he founded in 1998. He is also a member of the Louisa County Farm Bureau, Louisa County Rural Preservation Committee, Ever-Gro Coop Board and is a longtime past member of the Orange County Farm Bureau, as well as an executive committee member of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association.
According to a release from Sunbelt, Riverview Farms Cattle follows nutrient management plans and utilizes no-till practices over 95% of the land. These practices and more resulted in the farm being named the Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District Clean Water Farm in 2022.
Hopkins has no plans to slow down. Over the next 10 years, he hopes to increase the farm’s cow base from 300 to 400 and continue to add quality through the purchase of top-end bulls and a focus on maternal traits.
“We hope to double the scale of our custom feeding and poultry divisions as well as expand the crop farming aspect which will require purchasing additional land and equipment, using guidance and precision planting technologies,” Hopkins said in a press release. “Some of this expansion of course depends on being able to meet the likely need for more labor in the future.”
A 1988 graduate of Virginia Tech, Hopkins was nominated for the Sunbelt award by Charles Rosson, a Louisa County Extension Agent. Virginia Cooperative Extension nominates one producer to represent the state in the Southeastern Farmer of the Year program annually.
“Steve Hopkins is the embodiment of what it means to be a visionary farmer and agricultural leader,” Rosson said. “For decades, he’s been at the forefront of cattle innovation in Virginia — as an Extension agent, a mentor, and now as the driving force behind a thriving multigenerational farm. The Hopkins family doesn’t just keep up with the industry — they help lead it forward.”
As the Virginia award recipient, Hopkins will compete against other state winners from across the southeast for the title of Southeastern Farmer of the Year. The southeast region includes farmers from Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia. A panel of judges will visit Hopkins and the other six finalists the week of Aug. 5-8. The final award will be presented during the Sunbelt Ag Expo Oct. 14-16 in Moultrie, GA.
“It is truly an honor for my family to be named the 2025 Sunbelt Ag Expo Virginia Farmer of the Year,” Hopkins said. “As a former extension agent, I have a deep appreciation for this award, having nominated two outstanding farmers for it in the past — individuals I hold in the highest regard.”
