Rebecca Schweitzer

Apr 12, 2024 | lancasterfarming.com | Rebecca Schweitzer

JACOBUS, Pa. — Leveraging a company that creates aptamers — artificial DNA sequences that can bind to proteins — and a second one with tech to monitor pathogens, start-up company AptAvian is working to detect avian influenza in the air as a first step towards treating the disease. That’s just the beginning, though. AptAvian President George DeVaux and Thomas Caltagirone, CEO of aptamer-developer Aptagen, see the technology aiding with other animal illnesses and, possibly, human health.

Apr 11, 2024 | lancasterfarming.com | Rebecca Schweitzer

Three billion eggs from broiler hatcheries were rendered or sent to the landfill in 2021. This year will be the 15th that such eggs are not allowed to enter the breaking market, after the Food and Drug Administration changed the rules in 2009 for food safety.

Apr 10, 2024 | lancasterfarming.com | Rebecca Schweitzer

In late February, USDA led an agribusiness trade mission to Luanda, Angola, in hopes of developing the export market. The Kansas and Wisconsin departments of agriculture and 16 U.S. companies and organizations sent representatives alongside Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small. Jena Gress, manager of global marketing for the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, was one of those individuals. She answered some questions about the trip and experience.

Apr 9, 2024 | lancasterfarming.com | Rebecca Schweitzer

Dispensaries for medical and recreational cannabis are popping up across the Northeast between federal legalization of hemp in 2018 and a surge in marijuana consumerism since. With this new market is coming a wave of new farmers — some first-generation and some finding their way back to the fields. Brittany Carbone is one of the first-generation farmers. A Long Island native, she started her career as a personal trainer. But she was struggling with her mental health and found marijuana helped.

Apr 2, 2024 | lancasterfarming.com | Rebecca Schweitzer

WHITE HALL, Md. — Many consumers are interested in where their food comes from, but what about their skin care products and cleaning supplies? Star Bright Farm grows herbs and fruit for various products — from lotions to teas to syrups — made onsite. The organic operation has been carving out a new locally sourced niche since 2017. “We’re starting with the one that people know least because there’s less competition there.