Farmers gain conservation, innovation funds in Pa. state budget

• By Elizabeth Deornellas/LNP | LancasterOnline

An injection of money into the Clean Streams Fund is one part of the recently passed state budget sparking optimism among local conservation and agricultural workers, while a new $10 million agricultural innovation fund is expected to open for proposals by next month.

A recurring $50 million allocation will extend the life of the Clean Streams Fund, created in 2022 using federal American Rescue Plan money, and allow Lancaster County to reopen applications for a popular conservation program that assists farmers in reducing harmful runoff and improving local water quality.

Of the $50 million, $35.75 million will renew funding for the state’s Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program, whose original $154 million allocation has funneled $15.5 million to Lancaster County farmers and landowners.

The county has already allocated all of its existing ACAP funding, and the program has a waitlist. The Lancaster County Conservation District, which implements ACAP for the county, does not yet have details on how much of the new budget funds it will receive or when that funding will be available.

“We’re grateful to receive any amount of funding for Lancaster County farmers,” Kent Bitting, the conservation district’s ACAP point person, said in an email.

The Ephrata-based agricultural consultancy TeamAg noted how effective ACAP has been for local farmers.

“This program has been the fastest and easiest way for farms to implement practices to improve water quality within the region,” TeamAg vice president Jedd Moncavage said in an email.

During a Wednesday visit to the Discerning Eye Community Action Farm in Lancaster city, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding said the next step is for the State Conservation Commission to meet and approve ACAP dispersals to counties, adding that distribution will likely mirror counties’ original allotments. The Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program is on the commission’s agenda Thursday.

Water quality workers also cheered the renewal of ACAP.

The $50 million transfer to the Clean Streams Fund is a pleasant surprise, Matt Ehrhart, director of watershed restoration at the Chester County-based Stroud Water Research Center, said in an email.

“I suspect the reality is that, even though this is a smaller annual investment than the initial funding for ACAP, this was a more difficult lift in the current budget discussions,” Ehrhart said. “I commend the administration and Legislature for getting it done and applaud all those who worked to support it.”

If the funding had dropped completely, it would have been harder to maintain the technical assistance capacity necessary to keep conversations with landowners going, Ehrhart said.

“That said, this is effectively a decrease in annual funding for the work and still a fraction of the investment necessary to significantly address Pennsylvania’s commitments,” Ehrhart said. “There’s always a fine line between celebrating the victories – because they take an enormous amount of work, dedication and political capital by lots of folks – and acknowledging that the scale of the investment is well short of commitments that have been made.”

Locally, the Lancaster County Clean Water Partners will leverage the state funds to bring in more donations and keep the pipeline of strategic work moving, even if the pace slows a bit, Ehrhart said.

States in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have acknowledged that their 2025 pollution reduction goals will be missed. Pennsylvania has achieved 58% of its sediment reduction goal, 50% of its phosphorus reduction goal and 29% of its nitrogen reduction goal.

The Clean Streams Fund budget commitment will support progress like that highlighted by the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science Chesapeake Bay Report Card, which recently ranked the Upper Bay – the region of the Chesapeake Bay that Lancaster County drains into – the second-highest scoring Bay region for ecosystem health, Allyson Gibson, executive director of the Lancaster County Clean Water Partners, said in an email.

“That is a celebration!” Gibson said. “There is more to do, though; so as we move ahead, we stay focused on Lancaster’s collaborative approach to reach a common goal of clean and clear by 2040.”

Agriculture receives mixed news

The Department of Agriculture’s overall budget rose to $261 million, increasing 25.9% from last year in part due to the restoration of funding for the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives withheld funding last year due to concerns about how the university responded to antisemitism allegations.

“From my perspective and having talked with folks at the Department of Ag, overall the consensus is that it is a good budget for agriculture in PA,” Greg Kirkham, executive director of the Lancaster County Agriculture Council, said in an email.

Flat funding for the Land Scrip Fund that fuels research and extension activities at Penn State is one disappointment, Kirkham said. The fund stands at $57.7 million.

“This budget would mark the second consecutive year of flat funding for research and extension,” Kirkham said. “Considering the huge cuts to that fund in 2010, only two years ago did the funding return to 2010 levels.”

Redding said that Penn State funding has gotten caught up in larger debates about higher education funding, but that leadership changes at the school could help align its mission with the General Assembly’s economic development goals and lead to more investment in the future.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has touted a new $10 million agriculture innovation fund as an opportunity to invest in productivity advancements and to confront climate change.

Now that the program is officially funded, Redding said details regarding grant eligibility are being worked out, adding that he hopes to announce a call for proposals at Ag Progress Days in mid-August.

The fund is conservation-oriented but will also include opportunities for projects that focus on energy, technology and food processing, Redding said.

“This is great news and undoubtedly some of this funding will reach Lancaster County,” Moncavage said. “This is focused on agriculture businesses to implement new agriculture technologies, conservation, and renewable energy innovations and is not specific to a region or county.”