August 21, 2024

On August 12, NERCRD’s Director and Associate Director had the opportunity to attend the sixth annual Pennsylvania Ag Summit hosted by the Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15). The event took place at the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology in Pleasant Gap, PA, with the goal of showcasing Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry.

The event featured a panel discussion, which included Thompson; Russell Redding, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture; Chris Hoffman, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President; Matt Espenshade, Pennsylvania Grange President; Michael Kovach, Pennsylvania Farmers Union President; and, Hayley Painter, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Painterland Sisters, an organic yogurt company.

The summit also featured eight food-system entrepreneurs and the Woodmobile, an outreach tool of the PA Hardwoods Development Council. The businesses represented included Common Ground Farm, Goot Essa, Keystone Cultures, Kinfork, Nittany Valley Creamery, Painterland Sisters, Sinking Creek Meats and Tait Farm Foods.

Following introductions and opening remarks from each of the panel members, they fielded previously submitted written audience questions related to easing access to farm credit; nurturing the next generation of leaders in agriculture; how promote agritourism;  the difficult problem of farm transition or succession; and keeping farmland in production. They also discussed the opportunities posed by value-added agricultural products and addressed challenges facing value-added producers.

“In his closing remarks, Representative Thompson called out and thanked rural development organizations for their role in integrating and facilitating connections across the food system and helping farmers develop new business opportunities,” said NERCRD Director Stephan Goetz. “Since that is central to our mission at NERCRD, it was particularly gratifying to hear. He also pointed to the important role played by Penn State Extension in helping farmers adopt agritourism strategies, to which the Center also has contributed in important ways.”