Broadband expansion, other legislation on the radar for state Farming Bureau
The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau held a legislative farm tour Friday in Fayette County, hearing about the issues local farmers and those across the state are facing.
Darrell Becker, president of the Fayette County chapter of the PFB, called on lawmakers to support several measures, including legislation that supports a tax provision that does not impose capital gains tax to children inheriting a family farm.
“Basically, it would put kids out of the family business,” Becker said, adding that the average estimated capital-gains tax per acre would be $890.
Other issues included supporting legislation that will help dairy farmers hit hard from COVID-19 and volatile markets, causing many of them to close.
Pennsylvania ranked the highest of the northeastern states with 1,140 dairy farms closing between 2018 and 2020.
One big and ongoing issue on both the state and federal level is access and expansion of high-speed broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
Two of the bills on the state level supported by the PFB were by Rep. Pam Snyder, who was in attendance on Friday.
One bill would direct $500 million in federal stimulus money to a current grant program to deploy broadband in undeserved communities and the other bill would create a statewide broadband authority to act as a single point of contact to coordinate the deployment of broadband services across the state.
Last year, Fayette County used $5.6 million in federal CARES Act money to begin an initiative to have high-speed internet available throughout the county by laying down fiber-optic cable from the mountain, and setting up close to 30 hot spots.
Commissioner Vince Vicites said the commissioners are currently working with the county redevelopment authority to begin the second phase of expanding broadband.
One of the beneficiaries of that first phase was Paul Haines, the owner of Haines Farming and Meat Processing LLC in Gibbon Glade where Friday’s legislative tour took place.
The family owned and operated business started with a staff of six, and Haines saved up and built up the business and was able to slaughter under federal USDA inspection seven years ago.
Now, Haines employs 17 people, works with 20 local farms and slaughters 14 to 16 steers a week and 10 to 12 pigs a week.
“It was extremely difficult for us,” Haines said of working in his location without reliable internet, adding that it was hit or miss and broadband was a game changer.