PA ag secretary visits Schuylkill dairy farm

Yahoo

27-05-2025

Milking cows is far from a 9 to 5 job, says Kent Heffner, owner of Jersey Acres Farm in Wayne Township.
Cows needed to be milked early in the morning and late every day, even on weekends and holidays, and days when the weather is lousy, he said.
'It's not a job that too many people want to do anymore,' he said.
So Heffner is in the process of buying a robotic milking machine which will make his 230-cow dairy operation much more efficient and will be a boon to the family-owned business, he said. The machine should be in place by the end of 2026.
'This is what we need to keep going,' he said. 'It'll help a great deal.'
But that purchase would not have been possible without a $100,000 grant last year from Pennsylvania's new Agricultural Innovation Grant Program, which the state touts as the first program of its kind.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding visited Jersey Acres to speak about how state grants are assisting farms across the state thrive by helping them pay for planning and robotic technology.
Redding announced a doubling of the grant amounts now available to farmers for planning and spoke about how Gov. Josh Shapiro's 2025-26 budget plan proposes a $13 million hike to the historic Agriculture Innovation Grant program through which Heffner bought the robotic milker.
Jersey Acres is one of 6,530 preserved farms across Pennsylvania that will stay farms forever as part of the nation's leading state Farmland Preservation program. In addition to its dairy, Jersey Acres also grows fruit and vegetables, makes wine and has a roadside farm stand.
The dairy received a Farm Vitality Grant of $1,312 in 2024 to help pass the farm down within the Heffner family, and in 2025 won the $100,000 innovation grant for the milkers.
Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, left, speaks with Jersey Acres Farm owner Kent Heffner during a tour of the family's Wayne Township dairy on May 27, 2025.PHOTO COURTESY OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE)
The planning grant allowed Heffner to set up a succession plan for the farm, which has been in his family since 1911. He is the fourth generation of the family to operate the dairy, and his children will be the fifth.
Farm Vitality Planning Grants of up to $15,000 can be combined with other Pennsylvania Farm Bill grants, low-interest loans, and tax incentives to help plan and finance farm transitions. The previous maximum for those grants was $7,500.
'Farm Vitality Grants are helping farmers across Pennsylvania get the market analysis, financial planning, risk management, and other expertise they need to realize their vision for their farm's future, whether that's expanding their operations or protecting their family's farming legacy,' Redding said. 'The Shapiro Administration recognizes that investing in the future success of farm families is investing in all Pennsylvanians, because when farms thrive, we all thrive together.'
Since the grants were created under the Pennsylvania Farm Bill in 2019, they have supported $2.8 million in project planning, and financial and technical expertise to support growth opportunities for 401 Pennsylvania farms. Sixty percent of the grants have helped families planning to transition ownership of their farm to keep it in the family or pass it to new owners who will carry on their farming legacy. This includes 148 owners of preserved farms, including Heffner, who are protecting their prime farmland from future residential or commercial development.
Fourth-graders from Blue Mountain Elementary West accompanied Redding during Tuesday's tour of the farm along Panther Valley Road. The Heffner family has made the farm a tourism and educational destination, where young people can learn first-hand how a modern dairy operates and how cutting-edge technology makes the dairy products that they enjoy safe and healthy, Redding said.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding tours Jersey Acres Farm in Wayne Township with students and teachers from Blue Mountain Elementary West on May 27, 2025. PHOTO COURTESY OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE)
Other available agricultural programs from the state include:
* Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program, which provides tax credits as an incentive to those who sell or rent agricultural assets to beginning farmers.
* Beginning Farmer Realty Transfer Tax Exemptions, through which beginning farmers purchasing preserved farms have been given tax exemptions.
* Next Generation Farmer Loan Program, which uses federal tax-exempt financing to reduce a farmer's interest rate for capital purchases in order to help young families fund farm expansions and purchases.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is also now partnering with the Penn State Extension and PA Farm Link on the first Farm Progression Survey in the state in 20 years. Data gathered from the brief survey will help Pennsylvania strengthen rural communities and support the future of farming in the region, officials said. Responses are confidential and the survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding tours Jersey Acres Farm in Wayne Township on May 27, 2025. PHOTO COURTESY OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE)
Along with the $13 million allocated to the historic Ag Innovation Grant Program, other agricultural investments in Shapiro's 2025-26 budget plan include a proposed $2 million to keep Pennsylvania's new animal diagnostic laboratory in the western part of the state operational, an additional $4 million to connect Pennsylvanians at risk of hunger with healthy, local food through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System, a $4 million increase to the State Food Purchase Program to provide emergency food assistance for low-income Pennsylvanians, plus continued funding of $13.5 million for the initiatives and funding to keep Pennsylvania farms thriving through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill.