Governor Josh Shapiro came to the Penn State dairy complex to sign House Bill 2310, which will provide $10 million in grant opportunities to farmers and businesses across the Commonwealth.
“We would not be here talking about implementing new technologies were it not for state support received for agricultural research that enabled our scientists to ask what if,” said Dean of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences Troy Ott.
Pennsylvania’s number one industry is agriculture, contributing more than $130 billion to the economy and employing more than 600,000 people.
“We hadn’t been aggressive enough when it comes to competing with other states and other nations,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “I knew that one of the key pillars of our economic success and economic opportunity had to run right through our farmlands and be specifically centered around agriculture,” he continued.
State Rep. Paul Takac was the prime sponsor for House Bill 2310, which he says will help farmers and agribusinesses across the state access additional funding with the $10 million Agriculture Innovation Fund.
“House Bill 2310 establishes that innovation fund which will provide grants to farmers, food processors, cooperatives, and technical service providers to adopt innovative practices and technologies that will make them more efficient, profitable, and sustainable,” said Takac.
He says the fund will be administered by the Department of Agriculture, and Shapiro says the money will be available in as soon as two weeks, and will allow farmers to use tech such as automated feeding systems to improve livestock health.
“We are tackling some of the most important issues of our time, in climates, in food security, and issues around productivity, so this innovation fund is designed to do that,” said PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding.
Shapiro says Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation with a fund dedicated to agricultural innovation.
“Innovation plays just as important of a role in our skyscrapers as it does in our farmlands, and we need to treat both areas with the same level of respect and investment and we are doing that now in Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro.
Both Takac and Shapiro say they hope to see the innovation fund grow over the next several years.
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