Farm-City Committee Chair Discusses Fall Events

The Farm-City Committee, which is part of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, finalized its plans for fall 2022 recently. The committee holds many events a year with the goal of raising awareness and educating the community about the importance of agriculture in Blair County, which, according to Farm-City’s Committee Chair Joseph Diamond, is one of the largest industries in Blair County.

“I have been the committee chair for about 10 years,” Diamond said. “I am a volunteer for the committee but I also work for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.”

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is a non-profit organization that helps farmers across Pennsylvania. It is the largest general farm organization in the state.

Along with his role at the Farm Bureau, Diamond is also focused on the committee and the events it holds every year. Those events include a Farm-City Dinner, a “Visit to Industry,” and a Down on the Farm event.

Diamond, along with the members of the committee, decide where and when to hold the events.

“There are approximately 15 members,” Diamond said. “We have people who are involved in agriculture. We also have engineers and some non-agro business folks.”

Diamond said that the committee meets once a month to discuss agricultural issues in Blair County. Diamond also said the group discusses the day-to-day business of the people in the committee and they schedule the events they will hold.

“The first event will take place on Aug. 31,” Diamond said. “This will be our ‘Visit to Industry’ event where we invite folks to see a business related to agriculture. We will be going to Woody Lodge Winery in Ashville, Pennsylvania.”

The Woody Lodge Winery is a popular winery and was one of the first commercial wineries to plant and grow grapes in Cambria County.

“The next event will be held on Oct. 3,” Diamond said. “We are still confirming the time and place, but this will be our ‘Down on the Farm’ event. This is our after-hours business event and it is open to all families and chambers. We plan to show off a farm; we will have hayrides and we will have dinner. The dinner will be provided by Holland Brothers meats. We try to educate the public about what goes on in agriculture.”

Diamond continued to talk about the final event they committee has planned for Fall 2022, the committee’s Farm-City Dinner.

“The Dinner will take place on Nov. 2,” Diamond said. “The event will be held at the Freedom Township Fire Hall. We normally have speakers come in and talk about issues in agriculture, or how they are involved in agriculture. This year we will have some folks from Stellar Innovations, they do wood flooring and are involved in the wood industry. We will also present our ACE award, which is an award we give out to someone who has shown outstanding work in the agricultural industry in Blair County.”

Diamond also mentioned the Committee’s fundraising efforts. According to Diamond the committee holds a fundraiser to buy milk for local food banks. Diamond also mentioned that is the only time that the committee takes money and the rest of the efforts are strictly education-based.

“The Committee is here to help and grow Blair County’s number one industry which is agriculture,” Diamond said. “Agriculture is the number one industry in all of Pennsylvania and without a strong agricultural economy the rest of Blair County will suffer.”

Diamond encourages the community to be educated on agriculture in Blair County and will continue his efforts to raise awareness for the industry.