A veteran of a quarter century of service and leadership in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Art Hershey is one of a vanishing breed – the farmer/entrepreneur/steward of the environment.  During his tenure, Hershey served as chair of the House Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee, the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.  He also is the former chair of the tri-state Chesapeake Bay Commission.

His legislative accomplishments include authorship of the state’s first Clean and Green bill designed to preserve agricultural and forest land and the ACRE (Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment) law which addresses local ordinance controversies between farmers and municipalities.  He also worked on law that facilitates the option of storing umbilical cord blood for future medical treatments.

The co-founder of a registered Holstein farm in Chester County, he was named a Master Farmer in 1994 by the Pennsylvania Farmer Magazine and the Cooperative Extension Service.  He also has received top awards from the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association for his achievements and advocacy and was recognized with the Distinguished Service to Agriculture and Barn Raiser Award from the PA Farm Bureau .