PA Agriculture Resilience Network Online to Locate or Offer Assistance

A Penn State team has launched the PA Agriculture Resilience Network platform online to help the agriculture community respond rapidly to COVID-19 and other future disruptions of the food supply chain.  COVID-19 disruptions vary widely - from the reduced dairy market and processing capacity, to travel restrictions for seasonal workers, and employees who have been infected. When interruptions such as these and others arise, anyone in Pennsylvania can use a smartphone, tablet, or computer to access the PA Agricultural Resilience Network website to seek assistance or offer help within minutes. Users can also identify the location of agricultural supplies in the region or find online agricultural resources and organizations.

Funded by the Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, and led by Patrick Drohan, associate professor of soil science, a team from Penn State and other agricultural organizations created the "Pennsylvania Agriculture Resilience Network." The website features four user-friendly tools:

• Assist where users can request help or post a need
• Offer help where users can offer assistance such as labor, equipment, supplies, services, and post a resume
• Supply is a Google map populated with many types of agricultural entities that can supply agricultural farm products, seed, fertilizers, feed mills, equipment, parts, etc. 
• Resources include multiple online technical information sources and are still under development. Examples include academic sources, agricultural organizations, government resources, and supply search tools.

One of the tools available on the PARN website is the "Supply" map, shown above, which is populated with many types of entities that can supply agricultural products.

Drohan explains "I live in farm country, and I see the farmers around me sometimes struggling with the basic logistics of how to get materials and supplies as different sources have gone out of business." As COVID-19 disruptions further complicate these local challenges, the PARN website is designed to help.