Farm Credit Awards Efforts to Develop and Promote Northeast Agriculture

ENFIELD, Conn. — The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program, a joint effort of Farm Credit East and CoBank, recently provided $80,000 in grant funding to 18 organizations to assist their efforts to support young and beginning farmer initiatives, encourage youth leadership development, promote diversity equity and inclusion, and advance northeast agriculture, forestry and commercial fishing. Submissions for the next round of grant funding are due by December 1.

In the latest round of grants, recipients implementing projects to support young and beginning farmer initiatives, youth leadership development, and educational opportunities include: The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area; The National 4-H Dairy Conference; Holstein Foundation’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute; North American International Dairy Challenge; Roots Rising; the Campaign Against Hunger’s Green Teen Programs; and the University of Massachusetts’ Winter Traveling Dairy Tour.

Other programs focused on promoting diversity and inclusion and advancing northeast agriculture, forestry and commercial fishing include: American Farmland Trust; Foodshed Alliance; KNOX, Inc.; the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative; The Carrot Project; the Ecology School’s AgroEcology Project; the Livestock Institute; and the Vermont Cheese Council.

The New Haven Ecology Project received funding for its annual community Farm and Garden Conference to promote a greater understanding of agriculture by the nonfarm public. The Vermont Forest Business School will use grant funds to create and publish a retirement guide tailored to forest products industries, and Maine Farmland Trust will fund a project to support municipalities serving agricultural communities.

The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program was created in 1996 to support projects that promote and enhance the region’s agricultural community. Since inception, the program has provided more than $3.1 million in grant funding to 1,084 projects. Submissions for the next round of grant funding are due by December 1, 2023. Visit FarmCreditEast.com/AgEnhancement to learn more. 

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