TYRONE

FFA holds Livestock Days

Tyrone Area FFA hosted its annual Livestock Days, centered around the theme “Farm to Fork.” The event took place on May 18, 20 and 22, and was open to all students and staff. Over the course of the three days, a total of 1,267 attendees participated, engaging in hands-on agricultural learning experiences.

The “Farm to Fork” theme highlighted the important connection between livestock production and the everyday products consumers rely on. This agricultural advocacy initiative promoted key practices within the livestock industry by giving students real-world exposure to animal management, health and production concepts through five interactive stations. Students learned how producers evaluate animal health, handle livestock ethically and process animals efficiently and responsibly.

Education grants available

The Pennsylvania Beef Council, in partnership with numerous industry partners, has announced that applications for the 2026-27 Beef & Veal in the Classroom program are open. This long-standing program supports Pennsylvania’s Family and Consumer Sciences educators by providing funding in the form of grants to purchase fresh beef and veal products for hands-on classroom cooking lessons.

The program equips educators with a digital toolkit of resources, including nutrition information, lesson plans aligned with national standards, cooking videos and beef production insights to elevate classroom learning. The goal: help students understand the role of beef and veal in a healthy diet while exploring where their food comes from.

Applications will be accepted through July 31, 2026. Funding is limited, so educators are encouraged to apply early.

To learn more and submit your application, visit: www.pabeef.org/resources/educators.

UNIVERSITY PARK

PSU to study PFAS

Researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences received a grant of nearly $309,000 from the U.S. Geological Survey, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, to study the movement and impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in small agricultural watersheds across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The goal of the project, the researchers said, is to help farmers, communities and watershed managers better understand and reduce contamination risks.

Known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS can accumulate in soil and water and enter the food chain. Agricultural communities nationwide are increasingly confronting concerns about PFAS contamination, particularly on farms with a history of biosolids application — the agricultural recycling of treated municipal wastewater solids as a fertilizer and soil amendment — or the use of certain fluorinated pesticides, according to Heather Preisendanz, director of the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science, who will lead the study.

She said that the interdisciplinary project will investigate how PFAS move through rural agricultural landscapes, evaluate risks to human and ecological health and identify strategies to reduce contamination in water supplies and surrounding ecosystems.

Team to study ag practices

An interdisciplinary team in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, a conservation nonprofit working with farmers, has received a $250,000 grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

The team will use the funding to study how conservation agriculture practices — efforts to minimize damage to soil health and the natural ecosystem — affect the well-being of dairy farm workers and farm families.

The project, “Examining the Impacts of Conservation Agriculture on Farm Workforce Well-Being,” is led by Kathleen Sexsmith, assistant professor of rural sociology. Sexsmith said the research will explore an often-overlooked aspect of agricultural sustainability: the social and workplace impacts of conservation agriculture practices on the farmers and workers who perform them.

Soybean study published

Many soybean farmers use seeds treated with fungicides to ward off disease, but the profits from these increased yields might not offset the cost of the treatment in most cases, according to a study published in Scientific Reports by researchers at Penn State.

The researchers analyzed how seed treatments affect yield and profitability in soybean farms in the Midwest and found that yield gains were modest and often did not offset the added cost of the treatment. Financial benefit was likely only when seed treatment costs were low and soybean prices were high.

Paul Esker, professor of epidemiology and of field crop pathology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and lead author on the study, said the findings suggest that growers may want to carefully evaluate the use of fungicide seed treatments on their farms.