PA Chamber President and CEO Luke Bernstein joined PennAg Executive Vice President Chris Herr in welcoming U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to the Pennsylvania Farm Show last week.
Sec. Rollins met with leaders from the agriculture community and elected officials, including members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation and General Assembly, as well as Pennsylvania Sec. of Agriculture Russell Redding, held a press conference, and toured the Farm Show.
In a social media post and interview with CBS 21, Bernstein touted agriculture as Pennsylvania’s No. 1 industry and celebrated the Farm Show as a terrific annual reminder of the people and the businesses that keep the industry.
“The agriculture industry and sector in Pennsylvania generates $132 billion in terms of our economy. So, if you put that in comparison, that is greater than the entire size of New Mexico’s economy,” Bernstein told CBS 21. “We have just over six million total jobs. Half a million are supported by agriculture. Over 300,000 directly in agriculture. And so, when you look at it from an economic standpoint, it continues to be a dominant force in Pennsylvania.”
At the press conference, Sec. Rollins discussed challenges and opportunities facing the nation’s agriculture sector and the Trump Administration’s plans to address those issues – including raising crop reference prices, expanding farmer safety nets, cutting taxes for farmers, raising possible deductions, and looking into future trade deals with a number of countries to maximize the United States’ agricultural assets with other nations.
Sec. Rollins also said her agency is supplementing the agriculture industry with $12 billion in “bridge payments” that they’ll receive in February.
Other officials at the press conference included Pennsylvania Congressman GT Thompson, who chairs the U.S. House Agriculture Committee; and Reps. Dan Meuser and Scott Perry, USDA National Nutrition Advisor Ben Carson, and Pennsylvania Treasurer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity.
The PA Chamber team was active at the Farm Show throughout the week, attending the annual public officials luncheon, supporting our members at their exhibits and booths, and even participating in several competitions – as Luke finished in 5th place in the Celebrity Feed Scurry and 3rd place in the Cow Milking contest!