Sen. David G. Argall (R-Schuylkill/Berks) hosted Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding in Berks County Sept. 3.
Redding offered the keynote address at a breakfast meeting with Berks County farmers hosted by Sen. Argall at Blue Mountain Restaurant, Shartlesville.
“Regardless of the group that I’m speaking to, I say how fortunate we are to have access to food on a regular basis, a consistent basis, on a predictable basis,” said Redding. “That doesn’t happen just because you and I like it. It happens because many in this room really are committed to agriculture and our food system. Thank you, for feeding us.”
Redding spent 16 years in the Department of Agriculture before serving as a dean of the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Delaware Valley College, now University, for four years. He was appointed Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary in May.
“Every time, in the back of my mind, when I say agriculture, I think of Rabbi Krauskopf (Delaware Valley University founder Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf), of science with practice, and those words really capture well what we do. We take all of the science and technology and convert it into breakfast,” said Redding. “That is amazing. He had those words 120 some years ago.”
What he learned from his time at the University is the perspective of the next generation of farmers.
“I carry that back. Understanding that my view of agriculture is by way of my family’s experience, my experience. Their view, I’ve come to appreciate, maybe is a lot different. It is not a traditional view. These are not folks necessarily who are coming out of generation operations and then saying I’m going to be in animal science. They’re coming to the conversation of agriculture through food. That’s very different because that means a lot of different things to different people.”
Redding said that experience was a good reminder of the importance of bringing people into the agriculture industry.
“We’ve got an aging agriculture production workforce and that’s always a challenge. How do you move some of those farms from one generation to the next?”
He also talked about the need to look at specific agriculture jobs. Also, he said you can’t talk about workforce issues without talking about economic issues.
“We know that workforce limitations become economic issues,” he said.
Before breakfast and then opening the floor to questions, Redding said, “I’m very honored to be back in the department. When your vocation and your advocation are the same, you’re a luck person… What you do, what you advocate for and what you believe in is all part of your day. I feel that way about agriculture.”
During the question and answer portion of the breakfast, Upper Bern Township farmer Dennis Essig, a veteran, said asked about PA Preferred being funded again this year, which Essig said he has been using on his farm. He asked if Hometown Heroes for veterans would be collaborated with PA Preferred.
“As being a lifetime farmer and being a veteran, I, myself, would think it would be a very good thing for us to promote,” said Essig.
Argall said that while the state budget has not yet been finalized he believed that was not one of the programs the Senate has been in disagreement.
Redding said he is advocating for PA Preferred funding.
“I think you have both the Governor and the legislation supporting the Pennsylvania Preferred program,” said Redding.
Talking about Hometown Heroes, Redding said, “The goal was to find a way to recognize the military veterans within the marketplace… a labeling marketing initiative.”
Veterans like Essig can use the label on their agriculture products, he said.
After the breakfast, Argall and Redding toured Paul Zimmerman Dairy Farm in Bernville and Joe Jurgielewicz & Son Duck Farm in Hamburg.
