Agriculture
Federal and state legislators heard on Tuesday from Cambria County farmers how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the agriculture business locally.
Weakland Farms in Portage Township was the site of the Cambria County Farm Bureau's 2020 legislative farm tour, an event that's held each summer as a way for Farm Bureau members to communicate to policy-makers the issues on which they're focused.
Congressman Glenn 'GT' Thompson leads a round table discussion at the Second Annual Agriculture Summit hosted by Mount Aloysius College. Special guests include USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President. Special thanks to Mount Aloysius College President John McKeegan for moderating this discussion.
Leaders in congress and the agriculture industry came together for the second annual agriculture summit hosted Congressman Glenn Thompson at Mount Aloysius College in Cambria County.
Due to coronavirus concerns, the summit was hosted via Zoom. But the new format didn't stop officials from discussing the multitude of ways the state has stepped up to support farmers.
Back in January, farmers in Pennsylvania and around the United States were hopeful that 2020 would be "a year of recovery," Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Rick Ebert said Monday.
"We've been in eight years of a down farm economy, and things were really starting to come together," said Ebert, who has a farm near New Alexandria, Westmoreland County, during a summit on agriculture policy hosted by U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Centre, at Mount Aloysius College.
Mounting their own recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is one thing.
Being targeted for funding cuts due to a multi-billion-dollar state budget shortfall is another that Indiana County's agriculture industry is fighting.
Being unfairly restricted and taxed under stormwater management regulations is another burden local farmers say they want stopped.
Washington Week in Review: Aug. 7, 2020: Rep. Glenn Thompson on COVID aid, new farm bill
Negotiations on new coronavirus aid from Capitol Hill are showing no signs of real progress, leaving many to wonder what the relief picture will look like for production agriculture and federal nutrition assistance. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., joins Agri-Pulse to discuss the state of those talks and how farm policy might respond to the pandemic and other challenges in the years to come.
Two Pennsylvania lawmakers want to protect farmers and their crops from not only the impact of the coronavirus, but a bigger bug you can see called the spotted lanternfly.
"It threatens our crops, it threatens our agricultural tourism industry and so it is estimated that the impact on just Pennsylvania's economy could be as much as 18 billion dollars," Pennsylvania Democrat Chrissy Houlahan said.
Houlahan, along with Pennsylvania Republican Glenn "GT" Thompson, are working to secure 16 million dollars from the USDA to combat the spotted lanternfly.