ALBANY — New York State recently announced more than $31.5 million in grants awarded to the state’s agricultural industry through the Farmland Protection Implementation Grants (FPIG) program. The money will go to projects to protect a total of 15,600 acres on 22 New York dairy farms and eight non-dairy farms, “helping to keep valuable farmland […]
ALBANY — New York State recently announced more than $31.5 million in grants awarded to the state’s agricultural industry through the Farmland Protection Implementation Grants (FPIG) program.
The money will go to projects to protect a total of 15,600 acres on 22 New York dairy farms and eight non-dairy farms, “helping to keep valuable farmland in production, encourage diversification, and ensure the long-term viability of New York’s farming operations,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said in a March 5 news release.
Since 2018, New York State has made available more than $117 million in funding for farmland protection statewide.
More than $20.9 million will support conservation-easement projects on 22 New York dairy farms through the FPIG Dairy Transitions Farmland Protection Initiative. The state says this funding is necessary because “dairy farmers continue to face challenges from prolonged low milk prices, increasing the threat that viable agricultural land may be converted to non-farm development.”
Proceeds from the purchase of development rights on agricultural land will allow farmers an opportunity to diversify their operations or to transition their farms to the next generation at more affordable costs.
Projects in Central New York receiving funding include the following:
• The Southern Madison Heritage Trust — more than $825,000 to protect Rocky Top Acres, located in the town of Brookfield in Madison County
• The Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust — over $622,000 to protect North Gage and Red Line Farms, situated in the town of Deerfield in Oneida County
• The Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust — more than $1.63 million to protect Flat Rock Farms, located in the town of Denmark in Lewis County; and Jasdale Farm, which is in the town of Turin in Lewis County
About $5 million in funding for the Dairy Transitions Farmland Protection Initiative is still available. Awards will be made on a rolling basis until those funds are committed, the state says.
This is the second round of the program. More than $30.7 million was awarded in 2019 to 32 dairy farms, protecting 15,102 acres of farmland in round one.
More than $10.8 million in grants were made to support conservation-easement projects on eight New York farms outside of the dairy sector through the FPIG Farm Operations in Transition Farmland Protection Initiative. As with dairy farms, these agriculture operations are “vulnerable to many challenges facing the agricultural industry today, including trade disputes, changing consumer preferences, and climate change, increasing the threat that valuable agricultural land may be converted to non-farm development,” the state said.
The Central New York projects receiving money through this program include the following:
• Ghe New York Agricultural Land Trust — nearly $1.43 million to protect Kyle Farms, located in the town of Ira in Cayuga County
• The Finger Lakes Land Trust — almost $1.85 million to protect Jackson and Burns Farms, located in the town of Spafford in Onondaga County
Nearly $3 million in funding for the Farm Operations in Transition Farmland Protection Initiative is still available. Awards will be made on a rolling basis until those funds are committed, per the state.
