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The COVID-19 pandemic has attacked the physical and financial health of communities across the country.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 6 million Americans have been infected by the coronavirus, but each and every one of us have felt the ripple effect as our economy came to a screeching halt. The economic impact has manifested itself through scenes of boarded up storefronts, millions of Americans out of work, and many families concerned about their wellbeing.
Over the last several months, COVID-19 has changed our lives in a multitude of ways. Our routines were digitized almost overnight as business meetings transitioned to conference calls, classrooms became virtual meetings, and time spent with loved ones and friends became a luxury.
While we all depend on broadband connectivity every day, the global pandemic has underscored just how much we rely upon this technology.
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.
U.S. Reps. Glenn ‘GT' Thompson (R-PA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) joined a bipartisan Pennsylvania contingent in seeking a deadline extension for states and localities to spend Coronavirus Relief Funds authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
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.