HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania is investing $2.2 million in 17 new research grants aimed at helping the state’s farm economy keep pace with shifting technology, climate pressures, emerging diseases, and marketplace changes, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced.
“Research is step one to developing the innovations Pennsylvania agriculture needs to stay at the cutting edge of the industry,” Redding said, calling the awards part of the Shapiro Administration’s strategy to target investments “where they are needed to keep Pennsylvania agriculture growing, feeding our economy, and leading the nation.”
State officials tied the research awards to Pennsylvania’s broader push to move new tools from lab to field, pointing to the $20 million Agricultural Innovation Grant Program. The department said the first $10 million round is already supporting 88 projects in 45 counties to help farmers adopt technology, expand production, protect soil and water resources, improve efficiency, and generate clean, renewable energy.
Applications for the second round of Agricultural Innovation Grant funding will be accepted from Monday, February 2 through Saturday, April 18, 2026, with details posted at pa.gov/aginnovation.
The research grants announced include a $500,000 award to the Rodale Institute in Berks County to prepare a skilled agriculture workforce and foster understanding of sustainable, regenerative farming methods, and a $265,732 grant to the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council in Allegheny County to elevate agriculture as a “highest and best use” of land and resources.
Other funded projects focus heavily on animal health, poultry and cattle disease surveillance, and advanced analytics, including a University of Pittsburgh study in Allegheny County on novel cattle flu viruses at the animal-human interface; multiple Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences projects in Centre County spanning mushroom farm pest control, calving-assistance training using immersive educational technology, cattle fertility research, spotted lanternfly contamination during mechanized grape harvesting, and diagnostic baseline work tied to chronic wasting disease; and University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine projects in Philadelphia County examining chronic wasting disease testing methods, antimicrobial resistance transmission dynamics between livestock species and people, artificial intelligence-driven predictive analytics for dairy health, and risk factors for highly pathogenic avian influenza in small flocks.
Drexel University in Philadelphia County also received $199,976 for a project aimed at improving the fertilizer quality of anaerobic digestates via cold plasma, part of a slate of awards the department said is designed to help agriculture adapt quickly as conditions change.
Redding said the research funding is intended to fuel innovations that can later be deployed through programs like the Agricultural Innovation Grant initiative, which the administration has described as the first of its kind in the nation.
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