The 2021 Rural Policy Summit was a virtual series that brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers, nonprofit leaders, academic researchers, industry professionals, and others interested in rural conditions and trends, to learn about and discuss major policy issues that will affect rural Pennsylvania over the next five to 10 years.
This session was a roundtable discussion on Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry and policies that can help support our farmers and agricultural producers and processors in the coming years.
The summit panelists were:
- Senator Elder Vogel, Chair, Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
- Senator Judy Schwank, Democratic Chair, Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
- Representative Eddie Day Pashinski, Democratic Chair, House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and Center Board Vice Chairman
- Representative Dan Moul, Chair, House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and Center Board Member
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding provided opening comments and participate in the panel.
Timothy Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics at the Pennsylvania State University and Center board member, and Mark Critz, western regional director and executive director of the Rural Development Council with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, moderated the session.
The series was cohosted by the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, Pennsylvania Rural Development Council, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Pennsylvania Downtown Center, and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank’s Community Development and Regional Outreach Department.