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Agriculture

Investment of $4.5 million to build Nutrition Hub Network

WASHINGTON — The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the availability of $4.5 million in funding to establish three additional USDA Nutrition Hubs in communities across the country. The new Nutrition Hubs will provide tailored and scalable approaches to equitably advance food and nutrition security and help prevent diet-related chronic diseases, especially in historically underserved communities. The additional Hubs will create a network that builds on the work of the pilot Nutrition Hub established last year in partnership with Southern University and ...

‘Healing Through Horses’ webinar to focus on horses in therapeutic settings

UNIVERSITY PARK — The use of horses in therapeutic settings is growing and becoming more popular. To explore this topic, Penn State Extension will host a webinar, "Healing Through Horses: Using Horses in Therapeutic Settings," from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 21. Designed for horse owners and enthusiasts and people interested in equine-assisted services, this webinar will examine the unique characteristics of horses that make them a valuable addition to various therapies. Presenters will discuss horses' roles in physical and psychotherapeutic contexts, research supporting their ...

USDA-NASS Northeastern Region agriculture report

Editor's Note: This is a monthly column from the Northeastern Regional Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS-NERFO). The website is www.nass.usda.gov; for the reports mentioned below, click on the "Publications" tab. U.S. and Northeast dairy products summary Total U.S. cheese production for 2023, excluding cottage cheeses, was 14.2 billion pounds, 0.9% above 2022 production. Wisconsin was the leading State with 24.7% of the production. Butter production in the United States during 2023 totaled 2.12 billion pounds, 2.7% above 2022. California was ...

USDA to forecast fruit production

HARRISBURG — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct a forecast survey for 2024 fruit production inquiry (apples and peaches) during August 2024. The survey will collect information about acreage and projected production from more than 350 growers in the northeastern region of the United States. “The information from these surveys directly impacts our regions’ fruit growers by providing a forecast of fruit production in the northeast,” said Kevin Pautler, acting director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, ...

Bruns receives ’24 Commonwealth Award

UNIVERSITY PARK — Mary Ann Bruns, professor of soil microbiology and biogeochemistry in the College of Agricultural Sciences, received the Commonwealth Award from Penn State's One Health Microbiome Center on May 30. The Commonwealth Award is bestowed every two years by the center to recognize a member who has had a career-long view and positive impact on the microbiome community far beyond his or her research. This award recognizes unwavering, enduring and sustained service to the commonwealth in any area of the microbiome sciences. Bruns, who will retire this summer, has had a ...

Volunteers needed to help count Pennsylvania’s birds

HARRISBURG — Those birds you see in the backyard, around camp, while hiking or otherwise outside? They’re more important than you think. Reporting your observations of them is, too. The Game Commission, together with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, is conducting the third Pennsylvania Bird Atlas in state history. Between now and February 2029, it will document what birds live in Pennsylvania, where and in what numbers. “The atlas will provide a snapshot of the population status and distribution of birds in the Commonwealth,” said Game Commission Ornithologist Sean Murphy. “No ...