A number of county Finger Lakes soil and water conservation districts have been awarded funding by the state through the latest round of its Climate Resilient Farming Grant program. In total, 116 farms across the state have been awarded funding to address the impacts of climate change.
The selected projects will reduce greenhouse gases by an estimated 64,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year — or as much as eliminating over 14,000 cars from the road for one year, increase environmental sustainability, and boost resiliency to extreme weather events related to climate change.
Since the program began, nearly 100,000 acres of cover crops have been awarded on 178 farms to help control erosion, sequester carbon, and improve soil health, additionally, 156 acres of riparian forest buffers are planned across 49 farms to protect crops from flood damage, among other benefits.
Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the following regions were awarded Round 7 grants for the Climate Resilient Farming Program:
- Capital Region: $1,221,092 to work with four farms
- Central New York: $1,817,866 to work with 17 farms
- Finger Lakes: $4,342,175 to work with 40 farms
- Hudson Valley: $381,210 to work with five farms
- Mohawk Valley: $2,804,446 to work with 12 farms
- North Country: $1,283,743 to work with 15 farms
- Southern Tier: $1,801,037 to work with 11 farms
- Western New York: $1,469,802 to work with 12 farms
Check out the project descriptions and the amount of funding awarded by the state below:
