HARRISBURG (TNS) — Gov. Josh Shapiro took the annual gubernatorial tour of the Pennsylvania Farm Show on Wednesday, greeting attendees while also talking about agricultural investments in the state budget and the potential impacts of the incoming federal administration.
Shapiro’s Wednesday appearance showcased the great juxtaposition of the Farm Show, where state officials convene to talk shop before heading out to meet farmers — whose experiences are about as far removed as possible from the Byzantine politics of Harrisburg.
The governor began the day with a speech before a banquet hall full of elected officials and agricultural industry representatives, making the argument that his administration had come through for farmers.
“We made good on that commitment I made to farmers, way back when I was campaigning, way back when I was fighting to get those dollars in our budgets,” Shapiro said.
His administration is just a few days away, Shapiro said, from releasing $10 million from the new Agriculture Innovation Grant program, created in the last state budget to provide seed money to farms for new technology to keep them competitive.
Shapiro then surveyed some of that technology on the show floor, taking a look at New Holland’s new methane-powered tractors before heading over to a booth showcasing new soil treatments and shooting a brief video extolling the virtues of cover crops to reduce fertilizer runoff.
At one point, the governor was handed a none-too-happy piglet before visiting to a display of Pennsylvania-made foods where he chatted up Stephanie and Hayley Painter, the founders of Painterland Sisters Yogurt. They said the Tioga County-based company is now the fastest-growing yogurt brand in the nation, using vast quantities of Pennsylvania-produced milk.
The governor also touted the roughly $60 million devoted over the last two budgets to help farms affected by bird flu, as well as opening up a new state-run laboratory covering the western part of the commonwealth to test livestock and agricultural products — a particular concern given the risk of bird flu getting into the milk supply and infecting humans.
“Because of that aggressive approach to testing and quarantine, we successfully reduced the threat of avian flu, and — hear me on this — we haven’t had a positive test after taking over 10,000 samples, and I’m going to knock on some wood here hoping that continues,” Shapiro said.
In his remarks to officials and with the press after his tour, Shapiro also touched on the potential risks of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has suggested he would again try to slash the environmental regulations and associated funding for the Chesapeake Bay, potentially affecting Pennsylvania’s part of the interstate agreement to cut farm pollution flowing to the bay.
Trump has also said he will immediately begin mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Shapiro said he would like to see “responsible immigration reform, one that takes into account the kind of seasonal workers we need in Pennsylvania.”
The governor also touted his work creating apprenticeship programs to help train higher-skilled agricultural labor, saying that “I’m hopeful federal officials aren’t just going to kind of run in one direction” against the immigrant workforce.
Trump has also threatened to use tariffs to extract concessions from other countries — risking a re-do of the trade wars from his first term in office during which he paid out billions in farm bailouts after China placed retaliatory import restrictions on U.S. food products.
Shapiro expressed a wait-and-see approach, saying “you never know with this guy until he actually, you know, takes action,” but adding that “I think tariffs could be really devastating to our ag community, really devastating to consumers, driving up prices.
It could shut off markets for Pennsylvania farmers,“ Shapiro continued. ”I’m very, very worried about that.”
