Celebrates Shapiro Administration Investments in Growing Strength of Pennsylvania's Forest Products Industry
Harrisburg, PA – Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding kicked off Pennsylvania's maple tapping-season at Dewy Meadows Farm in Warren Center, Bradford County, celebrating Pennsylvania's maple syrup industry alongside the Pennsylvania Maple Producers Council and Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council.
Governor Josh Shapiro's 2024-25 budget feeds growth in Pennsylvania agriculture, including the state's $39 billion forest products industry, through smart investments in economic development, job creation, and innovation. The budget supports the state's maple producers and others in Pennsylvania's leading forest products industry through a $725,000 investment in the PA Hardwoods Development Council, as well as PA Farm Bill Specialty Crop Grants, Agriculture Promotion Grants, and research funding to provide tangible solutions to challenges facing the industry.
"Pennsylvania agriculture is a sweet business to be in," Sec. Redding said. "There's no better place to tell that story than on a family-run maple farm like Dewy Meadows. But what's even sweeter is having a governor like Josh Shapiro, who recognizes how central it is to a bright, promising future for families and communities across our Commonwealth, and how critical it is to invest in our future together."
Pennsylvania is the nation's 5th largest producer of pure maple syrup, producing nearly 200,000 gallons per year worth $5.4 million. Dewy Meadows Maple, a Pennsylvania Century Farm, has been passed down through generations of the Andrew and Sally Dewing family, who have made maple syrup and sugar there for more than a century.
Supporting the future of Pennsylvania agriculture on farmland, in forests, and in communities throughout the state, Governor Shapiro's budget and new economic development strategy recognize agriculture as a critical economic driver. To continue Pennsylvania's national legacy as an agriculture leader, the 2024-25 budget proposes investing:
- $10.3 million in agriculture innovation to help support and attract new agricultural businesses, including energy and conservation endeavors, and to continue to build the future of American agriculture right here in Pennsylvania.
- $145,000 for a novel pest detection program using dogs to prevent pest outbreaks without the expensive and potentially harmful use of pesticides.
- $8 million for the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program to fund measures that protect soil and water resources critical for sustaining agriculture in the future.
- $2.18 million in Agriculture Research to help the industry embrace emerging technologies, stay ahead of challenges like diseases, pests, and climate change to stay at the cutting edge of progress.
- $13 million to fund the historic PA Farm Bill, which feeds progress in the forest products sector and across Pennsylvania's $132 billion agriculture industry through grants and initiatives that build the future workforce, promote sales of PA-grown and made products, expand market opportunities, conserve resources and more.
You can read Governor Shapiro's full budget in brief here.
The Governor's full Economic Development Strategy is available at PAGetsItDone.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Shannon Powers, shpowers@pa.gov, 717.603.2056
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