Farm Credit Awards Efforts to Develop and Promote Northeast Agriculture

The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program, a joint effort of Farm Credit East and CoBank, recently provided $127,500 in grant funding to 29 organizations to assist their efforts to encourage youth leadership development, support young and beginning farmer initiatives, promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and advance northeast agriculture, forestry and commercial fishing. Applications for the next round of grant funding are due by August 1.

Many of the projects receiving these most recent grants are working to support the next generation of agriculture. Maine Lobster Community Alliance, National Grazing Lands Coalition, New England States Junior Holstein Club, Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, New York Youth Pork Producers, New York State Youth Sheep Producers, Roots Rising, Sixth Street Community Center, The Food Project, The Horticultural Society of New York and Vermont Youth Conservation Corps received funding for leadership development and education programs. City Green, Maine Farmland Trust, Maine Lobstermen’s Association, New Haven Ecology Project (Common Ground) and Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments were awarded grant funds to provide support for beginning farmers.

Additionally, grants were awarded to programs promoting Northeast agriculture, forestry and fishing including, Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Essex, CCE Cortland, CCE Steuben, Eastern States Exposition, Milk for Health on the Niagara Frontier and New York Farm Bureau. Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, Intervale Center, Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets and Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund were awarded funding to enhance economic viability in Northeast agriculture. Connecticut Farm Bureau and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont were awarded funding to support economic analysis projects to foster Northeast agriculture.

The Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement Program was created in 1996 to support projects that promote and enhance the region’s agricultural community. Over the past 30 years, the program has provided more than $3.8 million in grant funding to 1,243 projects. Submissions for the next round of grant funding are due by August 1, 2026. Visit FarmCreditEast.com/AgEnhancement to learn more.