AgEnhancement Grants

Farm Credit AgEnhancement Grants provide support for efforts intended to foster and grow all types of agriculture, forest production or commercial fishing, including both traditional and nontraditional production and marketing approaches.

What is an AgEnhancement Grant?

Each year, Farm Credit East and CoBank award grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 to help organizations promote awareness and strengthen agriculture, commercial fishing and forest products in the six New England states, New York and New Jersey. Since its inception in 1996, the Farm Credit AgEnhancement Program has awarded more than 2 million dollars in grants to organizations across the Northeast.

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Eligibility

What’s Eligible?

We support programs intended to assist all-size farms, promote diversity and create opportunities for new entrants into agriculture. Applicants that clearly demonstrate how a program, project, activity or event will have a long-term positive effect on the agriculture, forest products or the commercial fishing industries in the eight-state Northeast region are encouraged to seek funding. Statewide and regional projects are also eligible.

Program areas in which financial support may be provided include but are not limited to:

Leadership Development Programs that develop leadership skills among young farmers and youth. This has included grants to the Future Farmers of America, 4-H, the Holstein Association’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute, Lead New York, the New Jersey Leadership Program, Beef Expo and the Cornell Dairy Fellows Program.
Economic Viability and Enhancement Projects to promote economic development have included those by the New York Farmers Market Federation, New Hampshire Farm Link, Maine Association of Conservation Districts, the New York AgriDevelopment Corporation and the Center of Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship.
Programs to Promote Northeast Agriculture and Recognize Accomplishments of Ag Leaders Grants to create greater awareness and develop markets for Northeast farm products have included projects of New England Green Pastures, New York Apple Association, the New England Departments of Agriculture – US Food Export Showcase and Long Island Farm Bureau.
Build a Better Understanding of Agriculture, Forestry and Commercial Fishing Agriculture in the Classroom programs of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, along with Ocean Adventure (commercial fishing) and Witter Museum at the New York State Fair have been awarded grants to create a greater awareness and understanding of agriculture in the Northeast.
Economic Analysis to Foster Agriculture Economic studies, including a special report on the need for the Northeast Dairy Compact, a research effort with the State Departments of Agriculture to develop a cost of production crop insurance program, and a special survey of farm worker wages, benefits and performance standards have received grants.

What’s not eligible?

County or local school projects.
Programs and projects of nonagricultural charities.
Contributions for political support purposes, scholarships or memberships in professional societies or trade organizations.
General operating funds and ongoing program support.
Support for website administration and enhancement.
Capital or building projects.
Projects for an individual or individual farm operation.
Funding for annual state meetings, general business or corporate meetings, or regularly scheduled conferences.
Indirect costs associated with sponsored projects.

Diversity and Inclusion

Farm Credit AgEnhancement welcomes submission of proposals from all parts of our society. We encourage proposals from organizations that promote or facilitate minority involvement in agriculture and agriculture related businesses. To facilitate our diversity objective, Farm Credit AgEnhancement will accept and consider one-county proposals that would otherwise not be eligible.

Disclosure Requirement for Farm Credit Directors and Employees

Any Director or employee of Farm Credit East or CoBank shall clearly indicate their affiliation with Farm Credit in the letter seeking funding support from the Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program. Failure to disclose this information shall cause the project to be ineligible for consideration.

Deadlines

Proposals for Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Grant funding will be considered three times per year.

Application materials must be received by the close of business April 1, August 1 and December 1. Receipt of projects after these dates will be held for consideration in the next review. It is recommended that the application be submitted in a grant cycle well in advance of the project date so that if the project is funded, the applicant will receive funding prior to the project start date. For example: If the project date is August 29-31, 20XX, then the application should be submitted for the April 1 grant cycle. The application form will be closed for the month directly after the grant cycle due date.

Applicants will be notified by email that the application has been received. Applicants are encouraged to contact AgEnhancement if they do not receive an acknowledgement email.

Notification of the funding decision will normally be within 30 days of the application deadline.

How to Apply/Application Requirements

Complete the application form below. Be sure to complete all the information regarding funding requested.

Upload a letter outlining the purpose of the proposed program, activity or event, and describing how it will be conducted. The letter should not be longer than two pages and should include the following:

Specific information as to what is intended to be accomplished and the amount of funding being requested.
Indicate other sponsoring organizations and other financial contributions.
Specific dates for activities and events, and whether program/event sponsors will be asked to participate in any manner.
Specific information on how receipt of the grant will be reported in the recipient’s newsletters, press releases, event handouts and other materials. Budget information indicating how the AgEnhancement funds will be used and information regarding the total cost of the project/event/program and the proportion of funding being sought from Farm Credit AgEnhancement. An application must be complete with this budget related information.
Supporting information, not to exceed three pages, may also be included.

For questions, contact Kyle Bell at 860.741.4380 or send an email to AgEnhancement@FarmCreditEast.com.

Apply for a Northeast Farm Credit AgEnhancement Grant

Please complete the fields below to describe the project for which you're requesting funds. Please be sure to complete all fields as applicable, and scroll all the way to the bottom to submit your application.

Contact Information

First Name*

Last Name*

Address 1*

Address 2

City*

State*

ZIP*

Phone

Email*

Website

Organization*

Project Description

Brief summary of program/project/event*

Region/states involved in program/project/event*

Brief explanation of benefit to agriculture and the food and fiber industry*

Timeframe of program/project/event (please be specific, if possible)*

Amount of funding requested*

Briefly describe how receipt of this grant will be reported (newsletters, press releases, event materials, etc.)*

Fund Disbursement Information (for check to be mailed)

If approved, check to be made payable to:*

Address 1*

Address 2

City*

State*

ZIP*

Additional Items

Upload supporting materials, such as project budget or other materials to support your project*

Additional supporting documents (if any)

*Required Field