Butler County farm receives $100K Agricultural Innovation Grant
A Penn Township farm is one of 88 in the state to receive a portion of $10 million from the nation’s first Agricultural Innovation Grant Program.
Four Seasons Farm in Penn Township is due to receive $100,000 for the installation of robotic milkers, according to the Monday, Feb. 3 announcement from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office.
According to Jordan Kennedy, who runs Four Season Farm with his parents Jeff and Janice Kennedy, said the robotic milker will help save around seven hours of manual labor per day, which will help them focus more on other aspects of their cow’s well being.
“The cow will walk to the milking unit, and she would step into a box. The milking unit is all autonomous,” Jordan said. “It will use lasers or 3D cameras to judge where the utter and the teats are to clean, prep and milk her.”
Jordan said that this technology has become more popular in the United States over the past couple of years, to save on labor and costs.
The farm expects to have the robotic milker by the end of this year.
“We are excited for us and excited for our animals,” Jordan said. “It's also very gratifying to know that the Pennsylvania stands with their farms and agriculture to support farms like us to make sure that farms continue to provide for the public.”
Shapiro announced 88 awardees from 45 counties, representing 31 Pennsylvania-produced commodities and 40 areas of innovation. The funding is intended to help Pennsylvania agricultural businesses adopt technologies and practices to enhance conservation and implement clean energy solutions.
Grants will reimburse expenses for project planning and implementation, as well as larger-scale projects with a regional impact.
In Allegheny County, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania was awarded $40,000 for a horticultural project focused on native plant sustainability and processing. The Bidwell Training Center was awarded $500,000 for the development of an urban agriculture farm and market and Ecotone Renewables was awarded $130,000 for advancing agriculture innovation through sustainable energy practices.
“Our farmers form the backbone of our economy here in Pennsylvania — they put food on our tables and in our stores and restaurants every day. If we want to compete and succeed as a commonwealth, then we have to invest in them,” Shapiro said.
