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Agriculture

Rollins initiates public-private partnership to reduce fire risk

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is embarking on a new era of effectiveness as we continue to move away from the status quo. Secretary Rollins, along with USDA Forest Service Chief Randy Moore and Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) CEO Mark Emmerson, announced a $75 million Stewardship Agreement for the construction and maintenance of strategically placed fuel breaks on national forests in California and Oregon. This investment significantly expands upon unprecedented efforts to create a network of ...

USDA-NASS releases agriculture update

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is the primary statistical agency for USDA. Each year NASS publishes over 400 reports based on data collected from farmers across the Northeast and the U.S. If you receive a survey from NASS and need assistance, please call the NASS Northeastern Regional field office at 1-(800) 498-1518. Become a crop weather reporter If you are knowledgeable about crops across your county and have Internet access, you qualify to be a weekly crop reporter. It only takes about 10-15 minutes each week to alert USDA of the crop situation in your ...

Two Juniata 4-H members attend National Congress

MIFFLINTOWN — The National 4-H Congress is an annual event that dates back more than a century, bringing together the top 4-H members from around the country to celebrate their achievements, develop leadership skills, and foster a sense of community. And the Juniata Valley was well represented. Two Juniata County 4-H members had the honor of attending the prestigious National 4-H Congress held recently in Atlanta, Ga. Morgan Imes, of Honey Grove and daughter of Lyndon V. Imes and Heather Imes, and Jamie Walters, of Doylesburg, Franklin County, and daughter of Mike and Katie ...

‘Advanced Beef Cattle Nutrition’ course scheduled for May 15

UNIVERSITY PARK —Beef cattle producers and consulting nutritionists who would like to learn more about feeding beef cattle may attend the Advanced Beef Cattle Nutrition course, hosted by Penn State Extension. The workshop will be May 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State’s University Park campus. This event is targeted at advanced cattle feeders and practicing nutritionists who work with producers to feed beef cattle. Discussions will focus on fed cattle for beef production. The workshop will cover topics such as fermentation and rumen activity, ...

Pa. partners with USDA Northeast Regional Food Business Center

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the NASDA Foundation’s USDA Northeast Regional Food Business Center, has launched the first round of Business Builder sub-awards, designed to strengthen Pennsylvania and regional food systems by providing direct funding to small- and mid-sized farm and food businesses, including aquaculture and wild-caught marine businesses. Ten million dollars are available in this round, with awards ranging from $15,000 to $100,000 to support businesses in scaling their operations, expanding markets and connecting segments ...

Webinar series to cover timely topics in grape and wine industry

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State Extension and Cornell University will host a series of free, live webinars through April designed to update U.S. grape growers and winemakers on several timely topics. The “Eastern Viticulture and Enology Forum Series” is a collaborative effort among the Penn State Extension Grape and Wine Team and viticulture and enology extension programs at several other land-grant universities, including Colorado State University, Cornell University, the University of Georgia, Iowa State University, the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, the ...