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Agriculture

USDA invests $14.3M in Farm to School Grants

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is awarding a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants to 154 projects in 43 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. These investments will help 1.9 million children eat more tasty, nutritious foods in school, while supporting farmers and producers in their local and regional communities. “Farm to School is a huge win for children, schools, farmers, producers and communities,” said Secretary Vilsack. “When schools have access to fresh, local food options with ...

Monthly NASS 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. Keeping data safe We are very serious about our responsibility for the security and confidentiality of our data and have not had a data breach since before the Crop Reporting Board was established in 1905. With rapidly changing technologies, we conduct ongoing reviews of our processes to improve the security of our data. We are ...

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, ...