FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2021

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Wolf Administration Awards $1.3 Million to Fund Research to Grow PA Agriculture Industry 

Harrisburg, PA – Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding today announced grants totaling $1.287 million to eight organizations for research on issues critical to sustaining and growing Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry. Grant recipients include Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, American Mushroom Institute, Baarda Farms, Coexist Build, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture and Team Ag, Inc.

“Meeting the challenges of feeding a growing population amid rapid changes in climate, technology and animal and plant diseases demands investment in research and development,” said Redding. “These investments hold the promise and potential to spur the innovation we need to increase productivity; advance human and animal medicine; and support cleaner water, healthier soil and a safer food supply.”

The grants, awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, focus on a broad range of research topics including detecting COVID-19 exposure in livestock, increasing farm productivity and profits, protecting pollinators, safely controlling Spotted Lanternfly and other invasive species and improving soil and water quality and sustainability through regenerative farming.

This funding supplements $900,000 in agricultural research support through the department’s budget to Rodale Institute, the Penn State University Center for Agricultural Law, Penn State Extension, and the Centers for Beef, Dairy, Poultry and Livestock Excellence.

Following is a list of 27 grantees, amounts awarded and project titles:

• American Mushroom Institute, Avondale, Chester Co. – $42,242 – Carbon Sequestration through Spent Mushroom Compost
• Baarda Farms, Mt. Bethel, Northampton Co. – $6,000 – Refrigeration to Expand Capacity for Fresh Food Access
• Coexist Build, Blandon, Berks Co. – $4,500 – Developing Marketing Strategy for Agritourism Highlighting Regenerative, Organic Farm Featuring Hemp-based Construction
• Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, Millheim, Centre Co. – $87,791 – Soil Health and Economic Benchmarks for Conservation and Climate Resiliency
• Pasa Sustainable Agriculture – $91,179 – Understanding Keys to Direct Market Success through Collaborative Financial Benchmarking
• Pasa Sustainable Agriculture – $79,533 – Linking Soil Health and Nutrient Density for Improved Specialty Crop Marketing
• Pennsylvania State University, State College, Centre Co. – $89,044 – Assessment of Farmers' Adoption and Implementation of Conservation Plans: A Case of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania State University – $86,862 – Re-envisioning Multifunctional Buffers to Improve Water Quality, Profitability and Manage Risk
• Pennsylvania State University – $34,987 Pennsylvania State University – Establishing Pennsylvania's First Digital Pollen Library
• Pennsylvania State University – $130,300 – Drug Delivery Systems Using Milk Proteins
• Pennsylvania State University – $87,999 – Protecting Bees from Fungicides Applied to Tree Fruits and from Insecticides Used to Control Spotted Lanternfly
• Pennsylvania State University – $104,236 – Impacts of Spotted Lanternfly Feeding on Tree Health
• Pennsylvania State University – $87,614 – Are bee pollinator populations declining in Pennsylvania?
• Pennsylvania State University – $60,291 – Spotted Lanternfly Monitoring Pole Traps; Saving Labor and Increasing Monitoring
• Pennsylvania State University – $9,906 – Spotting and Stopping Spotted Lanternfly in Vineyards: Economic Impact and Decision Management Tools
• Pennsylvania State University – $42,953 – Innovative LIPS Assay to Evaluate Exposure of Livestock to COVID-19
• Pennsylvania State University – $22,080 – Dynamics of the Respiratory Resistome in the Pre- and Postweaning Dairy Calf
• Pennsylvania State University – $11,870 – Improving Molecular Characterization of C. Perfringens and Correlating Strain Type with Histology
• Pennsylvania State University – $25,000 – Molecular Serotyping of Avibacterium Paragallinarum Using Next Generation Sequencing
• Pennsylvania State University – $28,800 – Establish a Metagenome-based Surveillance System to Determine Prevalence and Distribution of Commercial, Backyard and Wildlife Birds in PA
• Team Ag, Inc., Ephrata, Lancaster Co. – $60,000 – Connecting Capital with Pennsylvania Farmers using Regenerative Farming Practices to Draw Down Carbon
• Temple University, Philadelphia – $24,455 – Detection and Genotyping Method Targeting the Apicomplexa Mitochondrial Genome: Piroplasmida
• University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia – $25,000 – Targeted Next Generation Sequencing Panel for Equine Pathogen Detection
• University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine – $10,000 – Evaluation of Reproductive Efficiency on Pennsylvania Dairy Farms
• University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine – $9,348 – Novel Implementation of FARM on Dairy Farm: A Pilot Project
• University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine – $14,432 – Development of Sensitive Method for Analysis of Cannabinoids in Bovine Serum and Hemp Seed Samples
• University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine – $10,578 – Comparison of Different Management Strategies on Quality of Reclaimed Sand Used for Bedding

MEDIA CONTACT: Shannon Powers – 717.603.2056, shpowers@pa.gov

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