MIDDLETOWN — Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding celebrated National Ag Day in March with the Nissley family on their 10th-generation dairy farm in Middletown to see some of the progress supported by the Shapiro Administration’s strategic investments in the future of their farm and farms like it across Pennsylvania.

The Nissley family took advantage of a Pennsylvania Farm Vitality Planning Grant in 2024 to support the legal and business planning services they needed to keep their farm in the family.

This February, the business received one of the first Pennsylvania Agricultural Innovation Grants to fund a feasibility study for an anaerobic digester to help them turn farm waste into energy as a source of power for the farm.

“At Jubilee Dairy and family farms like it across Pennsylvania, we are seeing the results of our investments with and for our farm families,” Redding said. “On kitchen tables, and in the businesses and communities that depend on family farms succeeding, we can see firsthand how investments with broad bi-partisan support are feeding Pennsylvania’s economic future, protecting our rich agricultural heritage and preparing businesses, families, and communities to meet the challenges ahead.”

Last month, Governor Josh Shapiro named the Nissleys among 88 recipients of $10 million in grants through the nation’s first Agricultural Innovation Grant Program.

This funding will help Pennsylvania agricultural businesses adopt innovative technologies and practices to enhance conservation and implement clean energy solutions — boosting profits, protecting soil and water resources and generating more clean, renewable energy.