Soil & Water approved for 3 grants for nearly $600K to assist local farms
Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced $16.8 million in cost-sharing grants for 54 agricultural water quality conservation projects across the state, including three in Orleans County.
The funding will benefit 131 farms state-wide. The projects will help farmers prevent pollution of New York’s waterways, Cuomo said.
“Agriculture is one of New York’s greatest economic drivers, and we will continue to assist farmers across the state as they work to deliver quality products while also conserving our treasured natural resources,” Cuomo said in a news release. “As the fight against climate change continues, New York is committed to leading the nation in agricultural best-practices that support hardworking farmers and protect the environment.”
More than two dozen County Soil and Water Conservation Districts applied on behalf of farmers for the grants awarded through the state’s Agricultural Nonpoint Source Abatement and Control Program. The program serves to award projects that assist with environmental planning or implementing best management practice systems, such as nutrient management through manure storage, vegetative buffers along streams, conservation cover crops and other soil conservation measures.
The Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District was approved for three grants totaling $579,637. Those grants include:
• $114,386 to work with three farms in the Johnson Creek and Sandy Creek Watersheds, sub- watersheds of Lake Ontario. The project will
- Implement best management practices that will reduce pesticide runoff
- Promote safe agrichemical handling practices
• $92,547 for Soil and Water to work with one farm in the Oak Orchard Creek Watershed. The project will:
- Address water quality in the Greater Lake Ontario watershed
- Implement practices that will eliminate runoff of nutrients and sediments
- Facilitate improved nutrient management
• $372,704 for Soil & Water to work with one farm in the Oak Orchard Creek Watershed. The project will:
- Address water quality concerns in a high priority watershed
- Facilitate improved nutrient management and eliminate manure application during adverse weather conditions
