Catawba farmers and Virginia Tech community members said they are hurt by the resignation of Catawba Sustainability Center’s manager.
Adam Taylor resigned last week from his role at the 377-acre, university-owned test farm in Roanoke County, following an appearance in Roanoke County Circuit Court on Sept. 18.
Taylor pleaded no contest to an embezzlement charge and was ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution. The plea was taken under advisement, with another hearing scheduled for February 2027, according to court records.
In an emailed statement last week, Taylor said it was an honest mistake that he is sorry for.
“When I decided surplus metal t-posts should be used on another farm for a community apple orchard in a riparian zone honoring the legacy of a farmer who worked to preserve apple genetics of the past, I thought it was aligned with the mission of the Catawba Sustainability Center,” Taylor said. “Only after they were in the ground I was made aware that the decision did not align with the policies in place at Virginia Tech.”
Taylor said that during his employment he raised more than $900,000 for the center and interacted with thousands of people. He said “this mistake has brought an unbelievable amount of stress to my professional and personal life.”
“I have turned my resignation into Virginia Tech and will always look back at my nearly decade at the Center fondly,” Taylor said. “I believed, and still do, the work at Catawba makes a real difference, not only in this region, but beyond our borders to everyone who chooses to push boundaries in ecologically minded, land-based solutions for food and agriculture.”
Stakeholder groups for the center are soon beginning discussions to seek out new leadership, according to an email from a Virginia Tech spokesperson.
“We anticipate those conversations will occur over the next several months,” the spokesperson, Mark Owczarski, said. “Keep in mind we have stakeholders from several colleges and units from across the university as well as stakeholders from across the greater Roanoke Valley.”
Because that process is set to begin, Owczarski declined to answer questions about the university’s long-term plans for the sustainability center.
“Each one of those stakeholder groups is important to the center and will need to be engaged and consulted with before the university can make good, smart, strategic decisions regarding the future of the center,” Owczarski said. “Virginia Tech intends to engage in that process in order to provide a sense of a future direction for the center at the appropriate time.”
Farmers praise and defend Taylor
Since Taylor’s appearance in court, various people in the Virginia Tech and Catawba Valley farming communities contacted The Roanoke Times to express their perspectives.
Catawba farmers Clyde Evely and Betty Bailey said in an email that they have followed the sustainability center for about 15 years, through several managers.
“Each in their own way has helped the Center to develop and grow but it was not until Adam Taylor arrived with his strong agricultural background and skills set that the center came into its own,” Evely and Bailey said. “We have found him to be an excellent steward of limited resources, which all farmers must be in order to survive.”
In an email, Virginia Tech professor and forage extension specialist John Fike said “this will be a real loss” to both the community and Fike’s own work.
“In my opinion, VT should have stuck with him and worked out a positive way to resolve,” Fike said. “Very frustrating, disappointing.”
Cam Terry founded Garden Variety Harvests, an urban farm that operates in northwest Roanoke. He sent an email last week voicing similar frustration.
“I think the state’s pursuit of this case and the eventual outcome shows a real disregard for the realities of running a farm outreach program like Catawba Sustainability Center,” Terry said. “It’s just a sad situation all around.”
In an email, Nick Tyre said he is a postgraduate student at Virginia Tech who started working with Taylor in 2024.
“When I arrived at the Catawba Sustainability Center and met Adam, I quickly knew I wanted to conduct my research there,” Tyre said. “In my years as both a farmer and a student, I have rarely met anyone so selfless, grounded, and deeply committed to improving the lives of farmers and protecting the natural resources we all depend on.”
When Tyre’s research funding was cut by federal changes this spring, he said, it was Taylor who found a way to keep him funded.
“He did more to support me than my own department was able to do,” Tyre said, “going far beyond what was required of him.”
On Tuesday, another postgraduate student at Virginia Tech named Desiree Shelley sent an email detailing some of her family’s experiences in the seven years since they met Taylor. Multiple times, she said, Taylor went out of his way to help her family on farm projects.
“On one occasion after we attended a series of forest farming workshops, Adam volunteered in his free time after hours to come to our house to help us set up our first Shiitake mushroom logs,” Shelley said. “Due to a child care issue, we were not able to attend this workshop so Adam offered to come by our place and show us.”
Another story came from Alexis Meyer, who described in an email a “feeling of grief knowing that we no longer have such a wonderful resource led by such a capable person.” She said events Taylor coordinated helped to form a group of like-minded small farmers in Craig County.
“The workshops, community meetings about alternative energy and other land management topics brought together a network that did not exist prior to Adam’s hand in implementing them,” Meyer said. “For this there is an incredible gratitude that many people like us feel for Adam’s role.”
Luke Weir (540) 566-8917
luke.weir@roanoke.com
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