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Agriculture

Final $300M in automatic assistance for farm loan borrowers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the final approximately $300 million in assistance to distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. Over the past two years, USDA acted swiftly to assist distressed borrowers in retaining their land and continuing their agricultural operations. Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, USDA has provided approximately $2.5 billion in assistance to more than 47,800 distressed borrowers. The assistance is expected to provide ...

Military Day Partnership at Farm Show Thursday

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association will honor our military with free milkshakes on Thursday, at the 2025 PA Farm Show. Renewal by Andersen of Central PA will sponsor PA Dairymen’s Military Day Appreciation festivities on Thursday with a free milkshake offered to active military and veterans to help honor and thank them. “We are excited to again team up with our friends at Renewal by Andersen of Central PA to salute our service men and women on Military Appreciation Day with free milkshakes. It is our combined hope that we can spread milkshake smiles to our ...

Extension workshops help specialty crop farmers

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State Extension educators recently completed a grant-funded project that tackled workforce retention, pesticide safety and food safety challenges for specialty crop farmers. Led by Linda Falcone, leadership and community vitality extension educator, and Maria Gorgo-Simcox, a bilingual horticulture extension educator, the program addressed issues such as high turnover, labor shortages and compliance with food safety regulations, all compounded by language barriers. Latinos make up 75% of the agricultural workforce in the U.S., Gorgo-Simcox noted, with many ...

PA Beef Council ‘beefs up’ state’s school lunch menus

BEDFORD — The Pennsylvania Beef Council (PBC) has announced that, to date, 117 school districts within the Commonwealth are participating in the PA Beef to PA Schools Program (PBPS) for the 2024-2025 school year. Now in its third year, PBPS connects schools and food service professionals with cattle producers to provide fresh, locally sourced beef to students. The focus of the program is more beef, more often. The initiative not only supports farmers, but also integrates locally grown food into school lunch menus, connecting students to agriculture and their community through the ...

Rural communities impacted by closings

UNIVERSITY PARK — All communities rely on physical spaces that are vital to the well-being of their citizens, such as grocery stores, recreational facilities and pharmacies. But what happens when these places are lost, especially in rural areas where no alternatives exist? Two new studies led by researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and College of Health and Human Development — one published in the journal Wellbeing, Space and Society and the other in the Journal of Rural Health — analyzed the experiences of residents in one such rural Pennsylvania ...

Winter gardening webinar set for Jan. 11

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State Extension Master Gardeners will share practical winter gardening insights in an upcoming webinar. “Come Grow With Us: Winter Sowing and Harmful Plants” will occur Jan. 11 from 8:50 a.m. to noon . The webinar is designed for homeowners, beginning gardeners, intermediate gardeners and landscapers. This year’s program focuses on practical methods for winter gardening, strategies to identify beneficial versus harmful plants, and the importance of incorporating native plants to support local insect populations. Attendees also will learn about managing ...