New York State is awarding over $25 million to 133 farms to reduce emissions and enhance soil health, equivalent to taking 15,786 cars off the road annually.

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State is awarding over $25 million to 133 farms across the state to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect water quality and to enhance soil health.

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The funds are made available through the Climate Resilient Farming (CRF) Grant Program and will help support 50 projects across 133 farms, including three from WNY. The projects are expected to reduce greenhouse gasses by 67,677 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is the equivalent of removing 15,786 gas-powered vehicles from the road.

“New York State has long been a leader in combating climate change, and a big part of that includes supporting our farmers,” Governor Hochul said. “Ensuring New York’s agricultural industry has resources to mitigate the effects of climate change is critical to not only protecting our environment but also maintaining the economic viability of the state’s agricultural industry for generations to come. I congratulate all the awardees of this terrific program and look forward to seeing the progress made in creating a cleaner, greener, more resilient New York.”

Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) were awarded the grants on behalf of farmers in one of four tracks:

Track 1: Livestock Management: Alternative Waste Management and Precision Feed ManagementTrack 2: Adaptation and ResiliencyTrack 3: Healthy Soils NY (systems and Best Management Practices that support soil health and agroforestry)Track 4: Agricultural Forestry Management (afforestation for carbon sequestration)

Awards were sent to the following regions:

Capital Region: $1,007,740 awarded to work with 13 farmsCentral New York: $6,012,742 awarded to work with 11 farmsFinger Lakes: $11,312,579 awarded to work with 57 farmsLong Island: $178,819 awarded to work with 8 farmsMohawk Valley: $1,576,658 awarded to work with four farmsNorth Country: $481,725 awarded to work with four farmsSouthern Tier: $3,730,736 awarded to work with 33 farmsWestern New York: $1,096,415 awarded to work with three farms