Farm Credit Awards Efforts to Develop and Promote Northeast Agriculture

September 21, 2021

The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program, a joint effort of Farm Credit East, Yankee Farm Credit and CoBank, recently provided $71,500 in grant funding to 15 organizations to assist their efforts to support young and beginning farmer initiatives, encourage youth leadership development, promote diversity and inclusion, and advance northeast agriculture, forestry and commercial fishing.

Recipients implementing projects for youth and young adult agricultural, forestry and fishing education include The New Jersey Agricultural Society; The All-American Junior Sheep Show; The North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge (Northeast Region); The Ecology School’s ARC Program and the Holstein Foundation, Inc. Young Dairy Leaders Institute.

Other programs focused on consumer education and increasing diversity and inclusion in agriculture include: the KNOX Inc. Urban Farming Program, The Green Village Initiative Intermediate Urban Farming Master Class, Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District’s AgInnovation community garden; the Providence Farm Collective Corp and the Greater Bridgeport Opportunities Industrialization Center.

A number of programs aim to improve food security, including the Vermont Foodbank and the New York Restoration Project. The Foodshed Alliance also aims to make preserved farmland accessible to farmers through affordable leases.

Additionally, The Vermont Forest Business School will use funds for an intensive short course for those beginning forest-based businesses and the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands will use grant funding to increase the number of Certified Master Logger companies in the Northeast.

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 $2.8 million in grant funding to 998 projects. Submissions for the next round of grant funding are due by December 1. Visit FarmCreditEast.com/AgEnhancement to learn more.