Pennsylvania Invests $5.5 Million in Projects to Improve Regional Waterways, Help Farmers Increase Economic Output and Improve Environmental Health on Farms Throughout Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Mar 30, 2026

The Shapiro Administration announced today that Pennsylvania is investing more than $5.5 million to improve the region’s soil and water quality and make farms in the Susquehanna River Basin more environmentally and economically sustainable. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture awarded 16 farms with $392,119 in Sustainable Agriculture Grants, and six conservation organizations with $5.1 million in Public Private Partnership Grants — both funded through competitive federal funding to the department through the Most Effective Basin program.

“What farmers do and how they do it matters,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Pennsylvania has long been a national leader in conservation of farmland and the soil and water resources we all depend on. That leadership is reflected in the expectations the federal government places on our farmers to improve the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality. But in federal models that measure progress, our farmers don’t always get credit for the work they are doing toward those goals. These grants are both an acknowledgement of Pennsylvania’s leadership, and a tool that will help sustain their farms, and help give them the credit they deserve for improving the quality of life for our entire region.”

Grants are funded through the Pennsylvania Most Effective Basins program, a partnership among federal and state government and the private sector to support Pennsylvania in achieving its water quality goals for the agricultural sector under the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).

Sixteen Sustainable Agriculture Grant recipients, selected by the newly appointed Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture Board, are receiving funding for management practices that keep valuable nutrients out of streams and in the soil, where they will support crops and livestock. Funded practices include cover crops, rotational grazing, tree plantings for conservation, and silvopasture — integrating trees and livestock grazing to fix nitrogen in the soil and diversify farm income. Today’s announcement started with a tour of Nathan Drager’s 50-acre Lancaster County farm along the Susquehanna River in Marietta, where a $20,965 grant will enable him to add 300 trees to his operation, expanding existing silvopasture with the help of agroforestry expertise from Trees for Graziers.

Source : pa.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.