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USDA-NASS Northeastern Region monthly report

by King Whetstone Regional Director, USDA-NASS, Northeastern Regional Field Office 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. Northeast hay stocks Pennsylvania hay stocks on farms totaled 390 thousand tons, up 15% from the previous May. Disappearance from December 1, 2022 – May 1, 2023 totaled 1.24 million tons, compared with 1.10 million tons for the same period ...

Free Ag Mentorship program

HARRISBURG – In 2022, Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry received a new resource to help farmers. The PA Agriculture Mentor Program Pilot included five mentors with extensive agricultural backgrounds to assist beginning farmers,agribusiness entrepreneurs and farmers in troubleshooting new strategies and ideas for their farm businesses. The program pilot proved to be a valuable asset to PA farmers, resulting in 124 sessions and over 127 hours of service. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, 34 clients received a total of 48.25 hours of free mentoring already. Spearheaded by a group ...

Final RVOs undercut rapid growth, potential of the biofuels industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency released its final Renewable Volume Obligations for 2023, 2024, and 2025, which sets annual biofuel blending targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Soy growers are expressing disappointment, as the rule does not accurately reflect the growth expected in the industry and falls far below the industry’s current production. The 2023 finalized rule made zero increases to the 2023 volumes compared to the draft rule. For 2024 and 2025, EPA made modest increases compared to the draft rule. The total volumes for 2025 represent ...

Penn State Extension launches spotted lanternfly survey for the 2023 season

UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State Extension Grape and Wine Team is calling on farmers and vineyard owners in the mid-Atlantic region to participate in a survey aimed at tracking the spread and severity of spotted lanternfly populations during the 2023 season. The data collected will provide insights into the distribution patterns of both nymph and adult spotted lanternfly within and outside vineyards, enabling growers and researchers to better understand this invasive pest’s potential impact on mid-Atlantic agriculture. The survey, which takes approximately one minute to ...

Juniata County Dairy Promotion with Ella Zimmerman

Hi! My name is Ella Zimmerman and I am a Dairy Maid for the Juniata County Dairy Promotion. Because I am involved in many activities, we sometimes grab dinner on the go. Sometimes, when I eat out, I get a salad with ranch dressing. I help my mom make this ranch dressing that I like to eat at ...

USDA to conduct annual mushroom survey from its 2022-23 sales season

HARRISBURG — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be conducting the annual Mushroom Inquiry to document the past growing year. All mushroom growers in Maryland and Pennsylvania will be contacted about growing area, production, and value of sales for the 2022-23 season as well as growing intentions for the coming year. “It is important that all mushroom growers participate in the inquiry so that accurate statistics are published,” King Whetstone, NASS Northeastern Regional director, said. “Mushroom statistics are used to ...