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Agriculture

Spruce Hill 2 + 2 to meet on March 19

PORT ROYAL — Learn more about problems that pester your crops while earning credits for your pesticide license on Tuesday, March 19 from 7-9 p.m. at Spruce Hill Grange, 20378 Rte. 75 in Port Royal. All updates will provide 2 core and 2 category PA pesticide license credits. Dr. Caio Brunharo, Penn State Assistant Professor of Weed Science, will present an overview of herbicide resistance in PA. Dr. Jamie Kopco, Penn State Extension Educator, will discuss protecting water resources from pesticide contamination and then speak about conducting a site analysis before pesticide ...

Manure management plan workshop in Snyder County

MIDDLEBURG — The Snyder County Conservation District will hold a free workshop to show farmers, livestock owners and horse operations how to write their very own manure management plans (MMPs). The workshop is set for Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at the Snyder Conservation District Office from 6-9 p.m. Participants will leave the workshop with knowledge and information to complete a manure management plan that meets current PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations. MMPs are required by any person who raises or boards animals, produces or receives animal manure, ...

New potato-threatening pathogens reported for first time in PA

UNIVERSITY PARK — As the home of beloved snack companies like Martin’s Potato Chips, Utz and Snyder’s of Hanover, Pennsylvania values its potatoes. Tasty tubers across the state may face the threat of newly identified pathogen strains, though, according to Penn State researchers who are aiming to develop management strategies. They published their findings in the journal Systematic and Applied Microbiology. The researchers collected potato stems or tubers that exhibited symptoms of black leg or soft rot — including wilting, stunting, black lesions and rotting tubers, among ...

Learn methods to make your farm profitable through free webinar

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Farm Link, in collaboration with Northeastern Risk Management Education, is offering a free webinar, “Three Steps To Your Profitable Farm,” on Feb. 27, 2024 at 12 p.m. Learn how to make your farm business a success through Charlotte Smith’s expert marketing insight. Smith started her farm in 2009. She was able to stand out among neighboring farmers through her farm business and marketing tactics. Through her on-farm success, she began teaching farmers how to market their products and build profitable farms in 2012. She now teaches farmers from 15 ...

USDA invests approximately $11.5M in compost, food waste projects in 23 states

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing approximately $11.5 million in 38 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. The Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture. The program is jointly administered by USDA’s Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The recommended ...

USDA partners with PA to award more than $26M for food supply chain infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has entered a cooperative agreement with Pennsylvania under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). Through this agreement, USDA and Pennsylvania are working together to offer more than $26 million in competitive grant funding for projects to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain. Pennsylvania is accepting applications for this Infrastructure Grant funding through March 30, 2024. The ...