New legislation aimed at helping farmers compete
Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation into law that will help support existing farmers and foster young farmers in Pennsylvania.
Known as the PA Farm Bill, this new legislation will help our farmers to compete in the marketplace and ensure the future of farming in the state. The following information was taken from the governor’s website at https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/gov-wolfs-vision-for-longtime-prosperity-for-pennsylvania-agriculture-comes-to-fruition.
Develop new resources for agriculture business development and succession planning
• Invest $2 million to create the Agriculture Business Development Center to support business planning, marketing, diversification, and transition planning services to Pennsylvania farmers.
• Create a realty transfer tax exemption for any transfer of preserved farmland to a qualified beginning farmer.
• Provide for the construction and use of a residence for the landowner or an employee and provides for the subdivision of preserved farmlands.
Increase opportunities for Pennsylvania’s agricultural workforce
• Create the PA Farm to School Grant Program, funded at $500,000, for prekindergarten through fifth-grade students to support increased nutrition and agriculture education.
• Re-establish the Agriculture and Youth Development grant program with an investment of $500,000 to support workforce development initiatives for agriculture and youth organizations such as FFA and 4-H.
• Expand the allowable width for use of implements of agriculture husbandry from 16 feet to 18 feet.
• Allocate $500,000 to the Agriculture Linked Investment Program to provide low-interest loans for conservation practices.
• Support the Conservation Excellence Grant program with $2.5 million to fund best management practices in priority areas of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
• Expand Resource Enhancement and Protection Tax Credits by $3 million to raise the lifetime cap and increase availability.
Create more processing capabilities
• Expand Pennsylvania’s Dairy Investment Program, funded at $5 million, to support innovation, value-added processing, marketing and organic transitions in the dairy industry.
• Utilize $500,000 to incentivize access to meat processing inspections for small farmers or butchers to reimburse costs for federal inspection compliance to access new markets.
• Invest $1 million to create the Center for Animal Agriculture Excellence, which will assist with expanding processing capacity, providing technical assistance and resources for food safety compliance and establishing hemp as an approved animal feed.
Increase market opportunities and grow the organic sector
• Invest $500,000 to support a state-level Specialty Crop Block Grant program to invest in priority crops for Pennsylvania, such as hardwoods, hemp, and hops.
• Bolster enrollment in the Homegrown by Heroes Program by providing an additional $1 million to the PA Preferred program.
• Improve agriculture infrastructure in urban areas by investing $500,000 in the Urban Agricultural Infrastructure Grant Program.
• Direct $1.6 million in funding to support PA Preferred and create the PA Preferred Organic Initiative to enhance the growth of the organic sector.
Protect agriculture infrastructure
• Continue the fight against the spotted lanternfly and create the Pennsylvania Rapid Response Disaster Readiness Account, funded at $4 million, to provide a quick response to the next agricultural disaster, whether animal health, plant health, or foodborne illness.
This news is huge to the agricultural community especially here in Carbon County.
If you want to support our local farmers, especially the next generation, go to the Carbon County Fair in Little Gap. Today is the last day.
Be sure to go when the 4-H’ers are showing their livestock and you will see firsthand what our future farmers look like. Support them because they will be raising the food that you eat.
Kathy Henderson is director of economic development for the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development.
