--- title: 2.25.26 - House Dept. of Agriculture Budget Hearing Overview description: Recap of the House Department of Agriculture budget hearing with a focus on HPAI response, food security, farmland pressures, and key program oversight. image: https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/Ag%20Logo.jpg --- ![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Ag%20Logo.jpg?width=225&height=225&name=Ag%20Logo.jpg) Budget Related Agriculture # 2.25.26 - House Dept. of Agriculture Budget Hearing Overview ![The DT Firm](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/website/image/dt-favicon.png?width=48&height=48&name=dt-favicon.png) The DT Firm March 2, 2026 **Department of Agriculture Budget Hearing Recap: HPAI Response, Food Security, Farmland Pressures, and Key Program Oversight** The House committee convened for the **Department of Agriculture** budget hearing. Testifiers were sworn in at the start, and brief informal remarks—**including a committee member’s cow-milking contest anecdote**—were entered into the record before substantive questioning began. Secretary **Russell Redding** and departmental leadership then walked members through the Governor’s proposed budget and the department’s major priorities, with much of the hearing centered on **high-path avian influenza (HPAI)** preparedness and response capacity. --- **Hearing setup and context** --- **Opening remarks: Secretary Redding’s overview** Secretary Redding delivered a department-wide overview emphasizing bipartisan investments and core infrastructure: --- **High-path avian influenza (HPAI): preparedness, enforcement, and funding adequacy** **HPAI as the dominant crisis topic** Multiple members and industry comments (raised through committee questioning) treated **HPAI as the primary crisis**, emphasizing the need for: **Collaboration with USDA and response operations** Secretary Redding described close collaboration with USDA, including federal “strike team” support and active, on-the-ground coordination. The department stressed: **Recovery Fund: funding levels, payouts, and eligible biosecurity uses** Deputy Secretary **Austin** provided detailed Recovery Fund metrics and described how funding is being used: Eligible biosecurity uses cited included: **Is proposed FY26 funding sufficient?** Members pressed whether proposed appropriations and department reserves are adequate. The department explained: --- **Food assistance and food security** Members asked about the state’s prior-year increase and how current-year funding aligns with rising need and federal changes. **Farm labor, affordability, and production risk** Testimony and questioning tied food affordability to agricultural labor availability. Secretary Redding underscored that immigrant farm labor supports production in key sectors (including dairy, mushrooms, and produce) and warned that disruptions to labor availability could threaten production and, by extension, food security. --- **Biosecurity enforcement: discipline, penalties, and public-private roles** Industry points referenced by members urged consistent enforcement across all producers, including penalties for noncompliance. Secretary Redding agreed that discipline and enforcement matter, while noting: --- **Agricultural Innovation Fund: proposed increase, oversight, and digesters** **Proposed increase and oversight questions** Members raised oversight/accountability questions regarding the proposed increase to the Agricultural Innovation Fund (noted in the summary as referenced around **$19M**). Secretary Redding described the review and selection process as: **Anaerobic digesters and data-center energy concepts** Members asked about digester pilots to co-generate energy for data centers and how the concept might scale. Secretary indicated: --- **Farmland preservation: land use pressures from data centers, solar, warehouses, and housing** Multiple members raised land-use conversion concerns, especially with: Secretary Redding emphasized: --- **Beginning farmers, succession planning, and farm viability** Members asked what investments yield the biggest returns for keeping farms viable and supporting succession. Secretary Redding highlighted: --- **Hemp and the Governor’s proposed adult-use cannabis concept** Members asked whether stakeholders were consulted on adult-use cannabis and how hemp fits in the agriculture portfolio. Secretary Redding said: --- **Pennsylvania Agricultural Veteran Grant Program: paused due to authority concerns** A member asked why the Agricultural Veteran Grant Program would not accept applicants per a PA Bulletin notice. Secretary Redding explained: --- **Permitting coordination with DEP and conservation districts** Members raised farmer concerns about permitting burdens and NOVs. The department described: --- **Penn Vet, lab capacity, and Penn State lab partnerships** Members praised Penn Vet and the broader lab system; concerns were raised about flat funding versus inflation for key partners. Department leadership described labs as vital for: --- **Fairs funding and county fair support** The department discussed proposed fairs funding (summary notes **$4M proposed** with roughly **$2.3M for operations** and the remainder for capital/allowable expenses) and referenced the role of an advisory board in allocations. Members highlighted the economic importance of fairs (summary notes over **$1B** impact and ~**5M visitors**). --- **Trade, tariffs, and market stress on producers** Secretary Redding discussed: --- **Transfers and fund shifts: Racing fund and General Government Operations** Members asked about transfers between Racing (Horse Race Development Fund) and General Government Operations. The department indicated: --- **Legislation referenced during discussion** Items discussed (but not formally heard or voted on) included: --- **Compelling testimony and anecdotes entered into the record** Notable moments highlighted through questioning and remarks included: --- **Closing and overall priorities emerging from the hearing** The hearing closed with members reiterating major priorities: **Overall tenor:** HPAI preparedness dominated the hearing, with recurring themes of enforcement capacity, food affordability and insecurity, labor availability, market disruptions from tariffs, and land-use pressure from non-agricultural development. Department leadership consistently emphasized partnerships (USDA, Penn State, Penn Vet, conservation districts), grant activity (Recovery Fund, Ag Innovation, Farm Vitality), and cross-agency coordination. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.thedtfirm.com%2Fdts-budget-blog%2F2.25.26-house-dept.-of-agriculture-budget-hearing-overview](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.thedtfirm.com%2Fdts-budget-blog%2F2.25.26-house-dept.-of-agriculture-budget-hearing-overview) ## Keep reading [![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PSP.jpg?width=225&height=225&name=PSP.jpg) PSP Budget Related ### 3.11.26 - House Budget Hearing Pennsylvania State Police ](https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/3.11.26-house-budget-hearing-pennsylvania-state-police) [![](https://support.thedtfirm.com/hs-fs/hubfs/OOB2-1.png?width=847&height=460&name=OOB2-1.png) Budget Related OOB ### 3.12.26 - House Budget Hearing - Governor's Budget Office ](https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/3.12.26-house-budget-hearing-governors-budget-office) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "The DT Firm", "url" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/author/the-dt-firm" }, "dateModified" : "2026-03-02T14:16:02.164Z", "datePublished" : "2026-03-02T14:15:53.000Z", "headline" : "2.25.26 - House Dept. of Agriculture Budget Hearing Overview", "image" : [ "https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/Ag%20Logo.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/dts-budget-blog/2.25.26-house-dept.-of-agriculture-budget-hearing-overview", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://support.thedtfirm.com/hubfs/website/image/logo-DT-firm.png" }, "name" : "The DT Firm" } } ```