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Agriculture

Fill a Glass with Hope to provide fresh milk supply to Pennsylvania food banks

HARRISBURG — The tenth anniversary of the Fill a Glass with Hope® charitable milk distribution program was celebrated on Jan. 3 at the PA Farm Show in Harrisburg with a $181,500 total donation thanks to generous sponsors of the 2025 program year. Joining Feeding Pennsylvania to announce the tenth anniversary launch were supporters: Two-time Super Bowl Champion and Former NFL quarterback Charlie Batch, of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions; Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding; Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft; PA Dairymen’s Association Executive ...

New program will support U.S. wood processing facilities

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack recently unveiled a new program to support American wood processing facilities. USDA Rural Development is partnering with USDA Forest Service to provide funding through the new Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP). The program will support the processing and utilization of wood products from National Forest System lands to improve forest health and reduce the risk posed by wildfires, insects, and disease and the detrimental impacts they have on communities and critical infrastructure ...

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 ...