(STATEWIDE) Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt announces that the Connecticut Department of Agriculture has awarded funds to 21 projects from the Farmland Restoration Flood Response Grant Program (FRFRG), totaling $312,050. Awards provide matching funds to Connecticut farmers, nonprofits, and municipalities impacted by excessive rainfall and flooding in July 2023 to restore lands into active agricultural production, with a focus on restoring and improving land with prime and important farmland soils.
“This year has been particularly challenging for farmers in Connecticut with a variety of weather-related damages, including the excessive rainfall in July which caused significant flooding throughout the Connecticut River valley and other regions of the state,” said Commissioner Hurlburt. “The timing of the July flooding was especially tough as farmers were just getting to the point of being able to harvest crops to recoup costs incurred with seeds, planting, fertilizing, fuel, and labor during the spring season. By pivoting to make these funds available producers will have the opportunity to bring land back into production for future harvests.”
Applicants were eligible for up to $20,000 for identified project scopes of work including farmland and site reconstruction to repair drainage, riparian buffers, grading and shaping of farmland topography, diversions and waterways, culverts, and stream banks. All projects are done in partnership with a soil scientist and through the development of a farmland restoration plan.
The 2023 Farmland Restoration Flood Response Grant awardees by category are:
Repairs & Replacement:
- 4-H Education Center at AuerFarm, Inc., Bloomfield
- B&B Produce, Inc., Somers
- Dingess Farm, East Windsor
- Kasheta Farms, Inc., South Windsor
- Race Hill Farms LLC, Glastonbury
- Koewing Manor Farm, Harwinton
- Sub Edge Farm, Farmington
- Urbanowicz Farm, Enfield
Soil Amendments:
- Fair Weather Growers, Rocky Hill
- Holcomb Farm, Inc., West Granby
- Oxen Hill Farm, LLC, East Granby
- Riverview Farms LLC, South Glastonbury
- Tantara LLC, Norfolk
- Windsor Hunt Stables LLC, Windsor
Site Reconstruction:
- Greenwood Holistic Farm, LLC, Ellington
- Healing By Growing Farms, East Haven
- Kogut Nursery LLC/Kogut Farm, Meriden
- Montstream Farmstead, East Windsor
- New Haven Ecology Project (Common Ground), New Haven
- Vaiuso Farm, Branford
- Wyse Acres LLC, Broad Brook
Funding for the Farmland Restoration Flood Response is provided through the Farmland Restoration Grant, made possible by Connecticut General Statutes 22-6c.
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture mission is to foster a healthy economic, environmental, and social climate for agriculture by developing, promoting, and regulating agricultural businesses; protecting agricultural and aquacultural resources; enforcing laws pertaining to domestic animals; and promoting an understanding among the state's citizens of the diversity of Connecticut agriculture, its cultural heritage, and its contribution to the state's economy. For more information, visit www.CTGrown.gov.
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For Immediate Release: Friday, October 6, 2023 Contact: Rebecca Eddy, 860-573-0323, Rebecca.Eddy@ct.gov
