WILLKINSBURG, Pa. — Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Lt. Governor Austin Davis recently announced 21 Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grants totaling $499,480 for projects addressing long-standing challenges urban farmers face in growing local, farm-fresh produce in cities across Pennsylvania. Lt. Governor Davis and Secretary Redding made the announcement at The Mill in Wilkinsburg, where Landforce, Pittsburgh’s Conservation Corps, will put a $40,500 grant toward equipment to increase efficiency in production of biochar – a soil enhancer made of wood waste from urban tree removal.

“Landforce is helping to create ladders of opportunity for people who desperately need them,” said Davis. “They’re giving people skills and training, to set them up for success.”

“Urban Ag grants are providing tools that help Pennsylvanians change Pennsylvania cities for the better,” Redding said. “Getting fresh, healthy food into neighborhoods where it is scarce, regenerating contaminated or depleted urban soil, and finding and affording land that won’t be sold after hard work and investments to improve it are just a few of the challenges with solutions funded by these grants.”

With funding from prior grants through the program, Pennsylvanians are working to increase fresh food access in areas where it is scarce; break down racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic barriers; and overcome historical inequities to grow not just food, but opportunities for their communities to thrive.

“We are deeply grateful to the Commonwealth for its continued support as we work to bring The Mill, Landforce’s zero-waste wood production facility, fully online,” said Landforce CEO Dr. Ilyssa Manspeizer. “This final piece of equipment allows us to complete the wood waste cycle, transforming fallen timber into biochar, improving soil health across communities in Southwest Pennsylvania, and capturing carbon that would otherwise be released back into the environment — all while creating meaningful workforce training and employment opportunities for individuals facing barriers to work.”

Since 2019, Pennsylvania has invested more than $3.7 million through the program in the infrastructure urban agriculture needs to thrive, and in removing the barriers unique to producing food in city environments. In total, 180 projects in cities across Pennsylvania are expanding fresh food access in locations often served by a single convenience store.

Funded projects include purchases such as greenhouses, roof-top and school gardens, irrigation systems, storage, soil improvement, and tools that expand the reach of organizations that feed economic, community, and personal growth through agriculture.

The program, part of the historic PA Farm Bill, funds microgrants of $2,500 in matching funds for one-time projects or a single entity, as well as collaboration grants. Collaboration grants provide up to $50,000 in matching funds for cooperative or regional efforts to share resources, support community development, and combine products of small farmers, building collective power to supply fresh food in underserved neighborhoods.

Urban neighborhoods are determined by criteria from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.