New York state has awarded grant funding to six farms located in Onondaga, Oswego, and Cayuga counties to protect their farmland.
Richard Ball, commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, on Tuesday announced a total of more than $48 million for 43 farms statewide. Ball announced the grant funding during a visit to the Raymond Heer Family Farm in the town of Onondaga.
The money comes from the state's Farmland Protection Implementation Grant program, or FPIG.
Under the program, the state awarded the Heer Farm more than $1.4 million to preserve 230 acres with 61 percent production soils. The Heer Farm is working with the New York Agricultural Land Trust (NYALT) on the farmland-preservation effort.
"They have the certainty that they're going to be able to pass this century-old farm and keep it ... with their nephew and keep it in this family," Ball said Tuesday.
Besides the FPIG money, the state also announced an additional $1 million is supporting additional staff capacity within New York's land trusts to further support farmland-protection efforts.
Raymond and Toni Heer are the owners of the Heer Farm, which has been in operation for more than a century. Standing with Raymond, Toni Heer told the gathering they've been thinking about how to preserve the farmland for a lot of years.
"How is it that we can best preserve our land and best recognize Raymond's father and his grandfather's wishes and being forever agriculture, and without this grant, we're not positive we could've made that happen," Toni Heer said in her remarks.
Besides the Heer Farm, the state also awarded the Kyle Farm of Oswego County nearly $959,000 for 203 acres with 50 percent productive soils; in addition, the Cook Farm of Cayuga County will use $1.4 million to preserve 395 acres with 49 percent productive soils; Cargile Acres of Onondaga County will use nearly $819,000 for 169 acres with 54 percent productive soils; Cuddeback Farm of Cayuga County will use nearly $2.3 million for 534 acres with 76 productive soils; and the state awarded Jordan Farm of Cayuga County nearly $1.5 million for 243 acres with 86 percent productive soils.
Besides Heer Farm, the Kyle Farm, Cook Farm, Cuddeback Farm, and Jordan Farm all worked with NYALT. Cargile Acres is working with the Finger Lakes Land Trust of Ithaca on its farmland-preservation effort.
New York's farmland-protection program has been helping the state's farms for 30 years, Ball said.
"It's three decades since we've been doing this. It's grown. It's changed a bit. But we've maintained the core mission to make that farmland is forever used for agriculture," he added.
The program has helped conserve close to 145,000 acres of New York farmland through completed conservation-easement projects on 473 farms, totaling close to $356 million, the department said.
“I am so proud that New York is a national leader in the protection of its farmland and support of its farmers. Over the years, we have carefully maintained and, during my administration, have grown the Farmland Protection program to continue to preserve our agricultural lands,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in the announcement from her office. “Through the Bond Act, which we championed and New Yorkers approved, we have invested even more in our Farmland Protection program in this round, providing record funding to this monumental program to ensure our farmers can keep their land forever in agriculture and pass it on to their families, all while preserving our rural landscapes and the long-standing agricultural heritage New York is known for.”
So far, through this round of funding of the FPIG program, 16,005 acres of agricultural land will be protected on 43 farms. More than $15 million is still available and will be awarded on a rolling basis. Potential applicants can view additional information on the Request for Applications page on the department’s website.
