ENFIELD, Conn. — After the most recent round of grants, the Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program is pleased to announce that it has awarded more than $2 million through 746 grants to programs that promote northeast agriculture, support young and beginning farmer initiatives and fund agricultural youth programs.

The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program began just over 20 years ago and is a joint effort of Farm Credit East, Yankee Farm Credit and CoBank. The most recent round of grants provided $54,800 to 16 organizations.

Recent grant recipients

The most recent grants highlight Farm Credit’s ongoing partnership with organizations that make a significant difference in the lives of people involved in all aspects of agriculture.

• Maine Tree Foundation received an $8,000 grant to support its teachers’ tours of Maine’s forests and mills.

• A $6,000 grant to the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge will support Northeast college students as they develop their dairy management skills.

• UMass Winter Traveling Dairy Tour received a $6,000 grant to support its 2018 program for New England college students.

• New Jersey Ag Society received a $5,000 grant to teach New Jersey preschool and elementary school students about agriculture.

• A $5,000 grant to the Cornell Junior Dairy Leaders will support its year-long program for teens to develop their skills and learn about career options in the dairy industry.

• A $5,000 grant was awarded to Knox, Inc. to expand its urban incubator farm program which trains low-income beginning farmers.

• A $4,300 grant to the New York Ag Society will support its Century Farm Awards Program.

• The Holstein Foundation received a $2,500 grant to support its Young Dairy Leaders Institute.

• A $2,000 grant to the Food Bank of South Jersey will support a program to process unused peaches harvested by South Jersey farms to support local food banks.

• New York Beef Council received a $2,000 grant to expand its beef producer/beef industry communications outreach program.

• Rhode Island Women in Agriculture and The League of Women in Meat each received a $2,000 grant to support women in agriculture educational networking events.

• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ontario County received a $1,500 grant to produce an agricultural careers publication for high school students.

• A $1,500 grant to Genesee Community College (GCC) will support its Agri-tourism Symposium to educate students and entrepreneurs.

• NOFA-Mass and NOFA-Vermont each received a $1,000 grant to support initiatives for young and beginning farmers and to promote ag literacy.

Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program

• Created: 1996
• Total grant dollars since 1996: $2,045,253
• Total projects supported: 746
• Proposal submission dates: April 1, August 1, December 1
• Contact: Jill Eyre, Farm Credit East, 615 Minot Avenue, Auburn, Maine 04210
• Phone: 800.831.4230
• Send funding proposals to: AgEnhancement@FarmCreditEast.com
• For more information: FarmCreditEast.com/Industry-Support.aspx

—Farm Credit East

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