The college of agricultural sciences at penn state will provide comprehensive support to the residents of pennsylvania through the a ctivities of the pennsylvania agricultural experiment station (AES)…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded The Pennsylvania State University $12,470,458 on October 1, 2025, under the Payments to Agricultural Experiment Stations Under the Hatch Act program (CFDA 10.203).

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State will conduct translational and fundamental research through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station and Penn State Extension to serve Pennsylvania residents and stakeholders regionally, nationally, and internationally. Work includes science-based programs addressing agricultural sustainability, food and agricultural system enhancement, natural resources and environmental stewardship, and economic and social wellbeing. The college will leverage federal base funding alongside external sources to support research, education of agricultural professionals, and lifelong learning programs addressing challenges including rising energy costs, weather extremes, population growth, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, labor shortages, and pandemic effects.

The award period runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance at State College, Pennsylvania. This is a formula grant; Hatch funds are expected to be fully expended in the fiscal year of appropriation, though up to 100 percent may carry over for up to one year after year-end without prior approval. At least 25 percent of Hatch funding must support multistate projects addressing regional or national agricultural research priorities.

The college of agricultural sciences at penn state will provide comprehensive support to the residents of pennsylvania through the a ctivities of the pennsylvania agricultural experiment station (AES) and penn state extension (extension). We will be responsive to stakeholder needs through translational research and delivery of science-based programs to clientele, but we will also conduct region ally, nationally, and internationally relevant fundamental research that generates baseline data to solve future needs relative to agriculture and natural resources and actively seek new and better ways to communicate our programs to new audiences. Our faculty and staff, supported by federal base funding (to include hatch and multistate hatch funds), will effectively leverage this investment against many other external funding sources to conduct programs of the highest caliber. We are committed to excellence in research, educating the next generation of agricultural professionals and citizens, and promoting life-long learning among the citizens of pennsylvania and within the region and nation. Our mission is clear: 'the mission of the college of agricultural sciences is to discover, integrate, translate, and disseminate knowledge to enhance the food and agricultural system, natural resources and environmental stewardship, and economic and social wellbeing, thereby improving the lives of people in pennsylvania, the nation, and the world.' agriculture faces challenges of rising energy costs, weather extremes, an expanding human population, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, labor shortages, armed conflict, and a lingering pandemic. To help meet these challenges, we are developing a conceptual framework based on the science of agricultural sustainability, defined as the integration of natural and social sciences to inform practice and policy for productive, working landscapes, healthy watersheds, and resilient economies. This innovative approach to agricultural research, engagement, and education centers on the impacts and synergies of contiguous rural and urban landscapes. This mosaic of densely populated areas next to forests and agricultural landscapes is unique to pennsylvania and the mid-atlantic region and requires an integrated strategy to achieve healthy and thriving agriculture, natural systems, economies, and communities. A primary component of AES and extension work in our college will be built on the three integrated pillars of intensification, resilience, and regeneration of agricultural landscapes as solutions to some of the most vexing problems confronting pennsylvania and similar mosaic landscapes worldwide. We will holistically and comprehensively address these critical issues: increasing the efficiency and profitability of agricultural production while minimizing environmental impacts and improve human health, equipping farmers to absorb and recover from short-term emergencies and long-term stresses to their agricultural production and livelihoods, optimizing plants, animals, and ecosystems for resilience to and faster recovery from environmentally related stresses, developing strategies for better management of nutrient inputs and outputs across complex agricultural and natural resource systems, from local fields and farms to large watersheds, harnessing spatial data and remote sensing technologies to map and model predictive simulations of environmental change.