(File Photo: Caption for Photo: Traditional American farm, Pennsylvania countryside from the air, colorful landscape with pastures and fields, picturesque homestead, cattle grazing on meadow)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) In Pennsylvania, a nonprofit striving to secure the future of small dairy farms is hoping its federal funding won’t be frozen much longer. Agriculture drives the state’s eighty-three billion dollar economy, with over fifty thousand farms. The Dairy Grazing Alliance includes an apprenticeship program that connects mentors and apprentices across sixteen states. It supports dairy farmers using managed grazing to restore land, produce quality milk and stay profitable. Jessica Matthews with the alliance says Pennsylvania currently has nine apprentices and twelve mentors. Matthews says the program runs on ninety-eight percent federal grant funding, with some climate-smart funds potentially tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. The money is on hold as they await guidance from the USDA and Sustainable Ag Coalition, and producer payments have been paused until further notice.