The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services received a national honor for its food safety programs this year. 

Pennsylvania protected 32 farms in 18 counties, investing nearly $8.2 million in state, county and local dollars.  The state Department of Agriculture said 2,264 acres have been protected from future development.  This brings Pennsylvania’s total to 6,076 farms and 613,884 acres in 58 counties, now forever protected from commercial, industrial or residential development. Pennsylvania continues ...

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday the approval of $2 million in funding for five agricultural projects in four counties through the First Industries Fund.

The state is looking to develop a sustainable agricultural plastics recycling program. 

Agricultural lending cooperatives AgChoice Farm Credit and MidAtlantic Farm Credit announced that they are merging to form Horizon Farm Credit, effective July 1. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding businesses in Pennsylvania that affected by the remnants of Hurricane Ida from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5 of last year to apply for working capital loans before the June 10 deadline.

Four Dauphin County organizations are among 23 across the state to receive a federal grant intended to grow markets and increase the quality, safety and sustainability of the state’s specialty crops. 

Pennsylvania farms produced $600 million in revenue in 2020, making the state second in the nation for direct food sales, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

Lancaster and Berks counties have nearly 3.9 million commercial birds to the recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak, according to Penn State Extension and the state Department of Agriculture. 

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding highlighted nearly $1 million in Wolf Administration investments for the commonwealth’s hemp industry as he opened the 2022 Pennsylvania Hemp Summit in Lancaster today. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that the highly contagious avian influenza has been found on two additional Lancaster County commercial poultry farms.

The Wolf administration announced Thursday that 3,528 additional acres on 40 farms – including 20 in central Pennsylvania - would be protected from development, an investment of more than $9.7 million in state and county dollars to preserve prime farmland.

The state Department of Agriculture is looking for research proposals on sustaining and growing Pennsylvania’s $132.5 billion agriculture industry. 

Environmental officials today toured farms in Lancaster and Dauphin counties to promote healthy farms, clean water and conservation.  

Four Lancaster County farms were awarded more than $2.2 million total in tax-exempt, low-interest financing through the state’s Next Generation Farmer Loan Program.