PA Environment Digest

Share this:

Dept. Of Agriculture Invests $1.5 Million In Research To Support Ag Industry Work To Tackle Complex Climate, Conservation Challenges On Farms

On September 4, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced nine recipients of new grants investing $1.5 million in research to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges like climate change, air quality, and loss of critical water and soil resources.

“Investing in research is the first critical step toward solving today’s most costly and complex challenges,” said Secretary Redding. “This increased research funding will support innovative scientists who are imagining solutions Pennsylvania farmers need to be more profitable, efficient, and sustainable. Governor Josh Shapiro’s new $10 million Agriculture Innovation and Conservation Fund will help put solutions into practice in agriculture businesses to keep Pennsylvania a national and world agriculture leader.”

Projects Funded

Grant recipients, amounts, project locations, project titles and descriptions include:

-- American Mushroom Institute – $220,000 – Chester County: Air quality study on a Chester County mushroom farm. Project builds on earlier research to determine impacts of concentrated mushroom production in the county where nearly 60% of mushrooms in the U.S. are produced.

-- Clear Climate Strategies – $95,000 – Centre and Tioga Counties: Charting a path for science-based climate action on organic dairies in Pennsylvania. Project aims to gather data and pilot a strategy to implement rigorous, scientifically valid steps for a diverse range of dairy farms to reduce emissions throughout a supply chain.

-- Pennsylvania State University – $146,000 – Statewide: Ready solutions for reducing agricultural nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment in the Susquehanna River. Project aims to gather data to educate farmers on low- and high-risk areas in fields to effectively target measures to reduce run-off, increase water and soil quality, and retain nutrients in crops.

-- Pennsylvania State University – $272,000 – Centre County: Assessing the potential for hemp to remediate PFAS-contaminated agroecosystems. Project aims to produce guidance on how to reuse wastewater in ways that benefit agriculture and minimize potential impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

-- Pennsylvania State University – $181,000 – Centre County: Enhancing the adoption potential of reduced-tillage organic grain production systems in Pennsylvania. Building on earlier research, project aims to study potential methods for reduced- and no-till production and crop rotation to increase organic crop yields.

-- Phospholutions – $122,000 – Centre County: Use of novel solutions to enhance the phosphorous efficiency of manure or solid waste. Project will determine the effectiveness of a phosphorous pollution-reducing technology used in chemical fertilizers on organic waste used as fertilizer.

-- Resource Innovation Institute – $181,000 – Statewide: Informing a 10-year Pennsylvania circular agricultural economy research vision by advancing cross-sector solutions across the food-energy-water nexus. Project aims to produce a plan to reduce waste tied to food production to make efficient use of byproducts to enhance water, soil, and air quality, and benefit energy production.

-- Stroud Water Research Center – $133,000 – Chester County: Carbon stock assessment of planted riparian buffers. Project will quantify the climate benefits and effectiveness of best management practices funded by Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program and Conservation Excellence Grants.

-- West Chester University – $157,000 – Chester County: Identifying and quantifying nuisance emissions sources in the mushroom industry in PA. Project seeks to measure environmental and other impacts of concentrated mushroom production in the county where nearly 60% of mushrooms in the U.S. are produced.

In 2023-24, the Shapiro Administration increased the Department of Agriculture’s research funding, dedicating $1.5 million from Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams Fund’s Nutrient Management Program for conservation research, in addition to existing research funding of $2.1 million.

The Clean Streams Fund, which also supports the Agricultural Conservation Assistance Program, was created with $220 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

The Shapiro Administration’s bipartisan 2024-25 budget continues support for innovative research and development, devoting nearly $2.2 million through the department’s Agriculture Research programs, and through $5.1 million invested in research and development through five Centers for Agriculture Excellence.

The new $10 million Innovation and Conservation fund will help agriculture businesses put new management methods and technology developed through that research into practice with solutions targeted to their specific challenges.

Click Here to learn more about agriculture research funding and initiatives and investments to grow, protect, and sustain Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry.

Click Here for complete announcement.

Related Articles - Watersheds:

-- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation Announces $23.8 Million In Small Watershed Grants To Support Chesapeake Bay Watershed Restoration Efforts; $7.5 Million To Benefit PA [PaEN]

-- USDA NRCS Now Accepting Applications For FY 2025 Agricultural Conservation Easement Program [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training To Hold 3 Multi-Day In-Person Ag Conservation Keystone Training Workshops In October [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Trees For Graziers Host 2 Silvopasture Farm Walks On Sept. 4 In York County, Sept. 11 In Lebanon County [PaEN]

-- Dickinson College Farm's Matt Steiman Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award From The Sustainable Energy Fund [PaEN]

-- Master Watershed Steward Volunteers Help Stroud Township Save Money With Stormwater Inspections In Monroe County [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Offers 3-Part Webinar Series On On-Lot Septic Systems Starting Oct. 1 [PaEN]

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation Holds Watershed Exploration Programs For Students In Grades 6 to 12 From 8 PA Schools In September, October [PaEN]

-- Upper Delaware Council Announces Honorees For 36th Annual River Valley Awards, Including 4 From Pennsylvania [PaEN]

-- Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy Seeks Volunteers For Annual Plant-A-Thon Set To Plant 10,000 Native Trees, Shrubs, Perennials Throughout The 4-County Watershed [PaEN]