Philip Gruber

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Philip Gruber

Maine lawmakers are looking to strengthen the state’s dairy industry through funding, technical assistance and expanded processing. The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry on May 8 began reviewing recommendations from a state dairy task force that concluded in January. Much of the discussion focused on Maine’s dairy farmer subsidy, called the tier program. But the panel also plans to weigh recommendations for farmer training and market development.

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Philip Gruber

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Dairy industry groups met Wednesday to debate the course of Pennsylvania’s dairy premium — both its near future and a long-term revamp. The Milk Board was hearing testimony on how to set the over-order premium for the next six months. But the hearing came a day after the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee passed a bill to restructure the premium, and those big-picture questions inevitably seeped into the board hearing.

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Philip Gruber

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday that her funding and job cuts are making USDA more efficient, while Democrats said she was undermining the agency’s effectiveness. “Any type of whole-scale change and big effort to basically realign an entire government agency is difficult,” Rollins told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. Rollins said USDA has cut 15,000 workers, or nearly 15% of its staff, through the Deferred Resignation Program.

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Philip Gruber

Pennsylvania is dropping a quarantine area for live bird market supplier farms in Lancaster and Chester counties. The quarantine order gave the state enhanced access to the farms to test for avian influenza. The state quarantined 207 farms in March 2023 after a wave of avian influenza cases ripped through live market supplier farms. Then-State Veterinarian Dr. Kevin Brightbill said farmers were avoiding reporting sick birds. The outbreak calmed down soon after the quarantine was instituted.

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Philip Gruber

I’ve been struck this year by how often I’ve heard people talk about collaboration. In January, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau leaders said they were thrilled with the relationships they had developed over several years with the Game Commission and outdoors groups. In February, newly elected Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., told me he wants to work across the aisle with the state’s other U.S. senator, Democrat John Fetterman, to fight avian influenza.