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Agriculture

Joint fire memo signed ahead of fire season

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum recently signed a joint memo (PDF, 693 KB) on wildfire preparedness, ensuring our two Departments are working in close coordination this fire season. USDA will work across President Trump’s cabinet and with our trusted state, local, and Tribal partners to ensure our nation’s wildland firefighting system is highly coordinated and focused on fighting wildfires quickly and effectively. Just beforehand, Secretary Rollins and Secretary Burgum received a 2025 operational fire ...

Dairy facts from Juniata County Dairy Ambassador

Hi, I’m Jackson Campbell, a Juniata County Dairy Ambassador. I want to share some dairy facts and maybe a joke or two. Prepare to be a-mooo-sed. Dairy cows have an excellent sense of smell and can detect odors up to six miles away. A dairy cow can eat up to 100 - 150 pounds of feed a ...

Big Valley FFA officers get high marks from operating committee

LEWISTOWN — When Abbie Fitzgerald stepped in front of the Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology’s operating committee meeting on Thursday, May 8, the Big Valley FFA member didn’t expect to be graded. After all, the final school bell had rung hours earlier. Nonetheless, ...

USDA to open program enrollment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced several Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrollment opportunities for agricultural producers and landowners. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting offers for both the General and Continuous CRP through June 6, 2025. CRP, USDA’s flagship conservation program, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. For four decades, CRP has provided financial and technical support to agricultural producers and landowners who place unproductive or marginal cropland under contract for 10-15 years and who agree ...

Snyder County to hold a June 5 Manure Management Plan workshop

MIDDLEBURG — Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection (DEP) regulations require any operation or entity that raises or boards animals, produces or receives animal manure, regardless of animal type (equine, poultry, livestock, exotic animals, etc.) or animal number have a manure management plan (MMP). Recently, DEP has developed a simpler MMP version for very small operations. The Snyder County Conservation District (SCCD) will hold a free workshop for small operations to learn about how to complete the simpler MMP version. The one-hour workshop is set for Thursday, June ...

Students attend Farm City Day in Harrisburg

HARRISBURG — The Shapiro Administration welcomed more than 1,300 K-8 students and educators from across southcentral Pennsylvania to the PA Farm Show Complex on May 7 for hands-on agriculture career exploration during 2025 Farm City Day. Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding toured career exhibits with Acting Education Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe and students learning firsthand about careers ranging from dairy farming and beekeeping to sustainable forestry, and technology making our planet and food healthier. “Agriculture today is not what it was at the beginning of this century, or ...