(HARTFORD, CT) – Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) has announced a public comment period on the funding priorities for Connecticut’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program in 2025. The public is asked to submit a response through the online form by Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. EST. The input received will be considered when developing final program priorities for 2025.
CT DoAg’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program awards funds to enhance the competitiveness of the state’s specialty crops, including fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, herbs and spices, medicinal plants, honey, hops, maple syrup, mushrooms, nursery crops (including Christmas trees), and floriculture.
Recent funding priorities have included:
- Research, development, and dissemination of innovative production practices to enhance farm viability, natural resource conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Market access (local, regional, national, or international), marketing, branding, and consumer education
- Producer collaboration—including establishing or strengthening producer associations and cooperatives
- Value chain enhancement—including strengthening relationships between producers, aggregators, processors, distributors, retail businesses, and consumers
- Pest and disease management
- Technical assistance to address efficiency, conservation, climate change, business viability, workforce development, labor issues, succession planning, and challenges facing beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers
- Enhancing food safety and improving the capacity of specialty crop businesses to comply with Food Safety Modernization Act or food safety audit program requirements
- Programs for training, mentoring, apprenticeships, farmer circles, specialty crop conferences/stipends to support specialty crop farmers who identify as black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)
- Projects and programs which support agricultural career development for specialty crop farmers who identify as BIPOC
- Training programs for individuals who identify as BIPOC that are aspiring to become agriculture service providers but require additional training and exposure to agriculture
For more information about Connecticut’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, visit www.ctgrown.gov/grants.
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) 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.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Rebecca Eddy, Rebecca.Eddy@ct.gov
860-573-0323
