Gov. Tom Wolf on June 20 issued a statement applauding the state House of Representatives for its passage of 10 bills enacting elements of his “PA Farm Bill” initiative to provide support for and continued investments in Pennsylvania's agriculture industry, and urged the Pennsylvania Senate to follow suit.

“I commend the state House of Representatives for its continued support of agriculture and the investments made through this legislative package,” Wolf said. “We look forward to the Pennsylvania Senate lending its support to the Farm Bill in the coming days.”

The Farm Bill package, a bipartisan, bicameral series of bills, is aimed at increasing funding and technical support for Pennsylvania farmers. It was modeled after Wolf's six-point plan to cultivate future generations of Pennsylvania's agriculture industry.

The bills approved by the House in the week of June 17 were:

  • House Bill 1514, which would create the PA Farm to School Grant Program for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students to support increased nutrition and agriculture education. It was sponsored by state Rep. Johnathan Hershey, R-Juniata.
  • House Bill 1516, which would continue the fight against the Spotted Lanternfly and would create the Pennsylvania Rapid Response Disaster Readiness Account to provide a quick response to the next agricultural disaster, whether animal health, plant health or foodborne illness. It was sponsored by state Rep. Martin Causer, R-McKean.
  • House Bill 1517, which would create the Conservation Excellence Grant program to support best management practices in priority areas of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. It was sponsored by state Rep. David Zimmerman, R-Lancaster.
  • House Bill 1518, which would recreate the Agriculture and Youth Development grant program to support workforce development initiatives for agriculture and youth organizations such as Future Farmers of America and 4-H. It was sponsored by state Rep. Pamela DeLissio, D-Philadelphia.
  • House Bill 1519, which would create a state-level Specialty Crop Block Grant program to invest in priority crops for Pennsylvania, such as hardwoods, hemp and hops. It was sponsored by state Rep. Christopher Rabb, D-Philadelphia.
  • House Bill 1520, which would provide grants for small farmers or butchers to reimburse costs for federal inspection compliance to access new markets. It was sponsored by state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Greene.
  • House Bill 1521, which would codify the PA Preferred Homegrown by Heroes program to recognize and support Pennsylvania's veteran farmers. It was sponsored by state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne.
  • House Bill 1523, which would create the Agriculture Business Development Center to support business planning, marketing, diversification and transition planning services to Pennsylvania farmers. It was sponsored by state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon.
  • House Bill 1526, which would recreate the Agriculture Linked Investment Program to provide low-interest loans for conservation practices. It was sponsored by state Rep. Rich Irvin, R-Huntingdon.
  • House Bill 1590, which would create the Dairy Investment Program to fund research and development, organic transition assistance, value-added processing and marketing grants in support of Pennsylvania's dairy industry. It was sponsored by state Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga.

All of the bills passed the House unanimously. They now head to the Senate for consideration.