Agriculture
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is an important industry in Butler County and its surrounding counties, and there are almost 1,000 farms in the county with over 130,000 acres in cultivation. Ninety-four percent are family farms operated by an aging demographic; most farmers are middle aged or older. Eighty-percent of our region’s food is imported. Our 2022-2023 needs assessment (coming soon) identified affordable food as one of the county’s top needs, and CP meets this need through several of our programs.
Veterans in Agriculture Grant Program
The Veterans in Agriculture grants are funded through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill. Veterans in Agriculture grants are mini-grants of up to $10,000 that can be awarded to farm operations owned by an honorably discharged service veteran.
Community Partnership’s Veterans in Agriculture grants target new and beginning farmers (farms in operation three years or less). Farms chosen to participate in the 2024 cohort will participate in a beginning business model class, receive a mini-grant, and ongoing support and referrals for additional services throughout the year.
Community Partnership’s application process is competitive. Applications will be taken until March 30th, 2024. Farms will be notified of their acceptance into the grant program on or about the beginning of May.
The 2024 program application can be downloaded here.
Completed applications can be sent to:
Community Partnership
C/O Sandra Curry
122 Mccune Dr Building 8,
Butler, PA 16001
Villa Maria Farm
While this project is just in its feasibility study phase under its partner agency The Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, Community Partnership is exploring a long-term relationship with the Sisters of the Humility of Mary in Lawrence County, with the intent of preserving and developing the Villa Maria Farm. If this project moves into implementation, the Villa Maria Farm would expand its support of charitable food programs, increase its agricultural education programming, and offer innovation and entrepreneurship programming and infrastructure for food and farm-based businesses in Western Pennsylvania.
CP has been awarded a H.R. 133 Speciality Crop Block Grant. Under this grant, we will work with Penn State Extension's horticulture team to provide specialty crop education to beginning and established fruit and vegetable growers in Western Pennsylvania. Growers (three cohorts of ten over the next three years) will participate in a series of 16 workshops covering soil health, pollinators, and greenhouse growing with a focus on brassicas (broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage) and tomatoes/peppers.
This Grant will include the installation of four demonstration gardens at Villa Maria over the next four years. CP is currently looking for local farmers in Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer counties to participate in the cohort, but growers outside of these counties will considered if space is available.
UPDATE!! We are currently enrolling for the final Grower’s cohort, which will be offered virtually via Zoom starting in April. Sessions will include soil testing, soil analysis, macro and micro nutrients, transplant production and direct seeding, integrated pest management, organic fungicides and insecticides, and specialized sessions on cut flowers, greens, tomatoes, pumpkins, winter squashes, and cover crops. If you are interested in signing up for the class, you can sign-up using Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seeding-the-future-of-ag-specialty-crop-grower-education-series-tickets-824745194077.
Community Partnership
C/O Sandra Curry
122 Mccune Dr Building 8,
Butler, PA 16001
Free S.A.
CP has several production gardens in Butler County where produce is grown to support our summer Free S.A. produce box. Our agricultural programs coordinator uses natural growing methods and pesticides are applied as little as possible.
The Free S.A. produce box includes spring and summer greens, root vegetables like radishes, carrots, potatoes, and beets, tomatoes, peppers, summer squashes, and other summer favorites. The box may also occasionally include herbs or edible flowers.
New for the 2024 growing season, we will be participating in seed trials in partnership with Seedlinked. We will be growing several different newly developed seed varieties and collecting information on performance and taste. Watch our social media accounts to see our progress throughout the summer. More information can be found out the seed trials we are participating can be found at Participate in Variety Trials (seedlinked.com).
To be eligible for a Free S.A. produce box, your family must be income eligible. Family income cannot be higher than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines based on your family size. Copies of all household income must be included with your application when it is submitted, as well as a completed copy of the Food Security Matrix. A staff member will contact you to confirm or complete your enrollment once it has been received.
Click here to download the FREE.S.A Application and the Food Security Matrix. Completed applications can be sent to: