With the help of Ellen Stewart, Madalyn Warren, Farmer in residence at Roxbury Community Garden just outside the Roxbury Central School, was awarded a $500 grant for adding fruit trees and bushes to the plot this year. Since 1998, Kids Growing Food, a program of New York Agriculture in the Classroom, has helped create and support over 325 school food gardens, providing K-12 students throughout New York with hands-on food growing experiences. By making connections to food, farming, and nutrition, the “garden classroom” provides food-based learning, integrating math, science, language arts, and social studies, helping teachers meet core curriculum requirements. Growing food at school helps students gain an understanding of how the local food system works and serves as a link to local farmers, businesses, and others involved in agriculture.
GRLIC and Andes Sprouts Society is sponsoring a call for design submissions for the Roxbury Central School Community Garden human-powered irrigation project due March 15.
REMINDERS:
Get in the Guide! Enrollment open for new and renewing Pure Catskills members through April 30 (lots of perks)
We want to know what you think about an online store for Pure Catskills products. Visit our Facebook Page and give us the thumbs up/down and product suggestions.
GRANTS: (Find more information on our Disaster Assistance Page)
2) Business Flood Recovery Grant Program from Empire State Development: awards up to $20,000 to farms, small businesses, nonprofits and multi-dwelling housing owners from a $21-million pool. (518) 292-5340 or email floodrecovery@esd.ny.gov (due March 16).
3) $3.2 million in available grants through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to help farmers across the state reduce their energy use, save on operating costs, and cut greenhouse gas emissions through more efficient use of energy. The program will provide financial incentives to support 75 percent of the cost of electricity and gas efficiency investments. Farms that are eligible for the grants include: orchards, dairies, vineyards, maple producers, egg and poultry farms, grain, specialty crops, and others. Upgrades covered in the grants include: process improvements, lighting upgrades, and high-efficiency fan, pump, and motor systems, and other measures. Small farms could be eligible for free energy audits to assist in identifying energy efficiency projects.
Past NYSERDA programs demonstrate that a typical dairy farm can save 20 to 30 percent of its energy bill with cost-effective energy efficiency improvements at an average seven-year payback. The Agriculture Energy Efficiency Program can provide a typical dairy farm with $2,700 to $4,000 per year in savings from a farm investment of $4,800 to $7,000.
For more information about the Agriculture Energy Efficiency Program 1-800-732-1399.
4) USDA FSA ECP Emergency Conservation Program (due March 1): 607-865-4005 USDA’s Farm Service Agency in New York will allocate nearly $4-million throughout 25 counties, including all eight watershed counties,to help farmers rehabilitate land damaged by recent flooding. Funding will allow farmers to remove debris from farmland, repair the severe damage to land, restore fences, and repair conservation systems damaged by last year’s flooding.
5) Agricultural and Community Recovery Fund (ACRF), the Capital On-Farm Needs Component, will provide funding up to $20,000 per eligible farm for capital losses caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The ACRF Capital On-Farm Needs Component is designed to help pay for capital losses, such as the repair or replacement of fixtures and equipment needed to maintain agricultural operations. Funding for this program will be provided in the form of grants for 50 percent of eligible costs up to $20,000 per farm. Program guidelines and applications for the Capital On-Farm Needs Component, as well as other ACRF components: the ACRF Conservation Component, ACRF Farm Operation Match Component, and the ACRF Main Street Component.
The combined impacts of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee had a devastating effect on New York State agriculture resulting in an estimated 200,000 acres of cropland damage and $73 million in agricultural damages to crops, buildings, equipment and land resources.
6) USDA New York Conservation Program grants (due February 17):
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI); and
EVENTS:
FEBRUARY 11: Basics of Maple Syrup Production at Agroforestry Center Acra from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $10. Contact CCE Greene County (518) 622-9820.
FEBRUARY 15: No Food, No Farms Rally at the State Capitol in Albany from 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes lunch. Contact American Farmland Trust New York State Field Office at (518) 581-0078.
FEBRUARY 16 & 23; MARCH 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
4-H Tractor & Machinery Certification Course at CCE Resource Center, Hamden from 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Cost is $40 and includes $25 course book.Sponsored by CCE-Delaware County, contact Judy Morse, CCEDC (607) 865-7161 to register.
FEBRUARY 16: Managing Windfalls at CCE Resource Center in Hamden from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes lunch and materials. Sponsored by CCE-Delaware County and the Council, contact Judy Morse, CCEDC (607) 865-7161 to register.
FEBRUARY 22 & 24: Group Housed Dairy Calf Symposium at two locations (Tally Ho Restaurant, Richfield Springs and Holiday Inn Southside, Oneonta).
Sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension and Cornell PRO-DAIRY, cost is $30. Mail in registration or contact Kim Holden, CCEDC (607) 865-7090.
MARCH 22: Are You Ready for the Next Disaster? Public Officials Workshop at Margaretville Fire Hall, 3rd Floor. Sponsored by Catskill Watershed Corp., this session is open to regional public officials. (845) 586-1400.
SPOTLIGHT ON PURE CATSKILLS MEMBER:
Owners: Diane Frances & Larry Hepner
3228 Gunhouse Hill Road, South Kortright, NY 13842
PH: (607) 538-9707
Tune in every week, Thursday at 7:15 a.m., on WIOX Community Radio 91.3FM. Follow us on Facebook for the latest on the Watershed Agricultural Council and Pure Catskills.
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