Schoharie County has announced the second round of the Schoharie County Agriculture Assistance Grant program.
With the assistance of the State Department of Agriculture & Markets, matching grants will be offered to aid county farms in purchasing up-to-date technology, equipment and inventory as well as provide working capital.
After losing feed and crops and suffering damage to property and farmland during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, farms were faced with high replacement costs and lost revenues from those crops.
The Agriculture Assistance Grant program will fund up to 50 percent of the total costs associated with the purchase of eligible items, and will have a cap of $5,000 per farm.
Those who received the maximum amount of $50,000 from round one are ineligible for this round of grant funding.
To be eligible for these grants, a representative from the farm must attend the Crop Insurance for Farming Operations in Schoharie County on September 6 in the basement training room of the County Office Building from 9:30-11:30am, have an up-to-date business plan which includes the purchase of the items included in the grant, and show how the remainder of the project will be funded.
Light refreshments will be served and sponsored by the Schoharie County Farm Bureau.
Space is limited and pre-registration is required by Wednesday, September 4.
To pre-register, call Sarah Blood at Schoharie County Planning, Promotion and Development at 295-8770 or email Sarah Blood at sarah.blood@co.schoharie.ny.us with your name, farm name, contact information and type of farming operation.
Grant applications can be emailed or mailed out ahead of time.
The grant applications will be discussed and questions answered at this workshop and will be due back to Schoharie County Planning and Development no later than 4pm on September 16.
Farmers have the chance to enroll in crop insurance every year.
While not all crops are covered, the workshop will provide farmers with the details of crop insurance programs that are currently available, provide information on how flexible they can be (while sign-up is March 15, the commitment of acres is made at acreage reporting time on July 15) and how crop insurance and cover crop use can be coordinated.
Specific payment examples can be worked out using specific producer situations as impacted for previous year's events.
Sarah Johnston (NYSDAM), Fay Benson (Cornell's Small Farm Program) and Charlie Koines will make the presentation.