May, 2023: Kimberly Farm to open Ice Cream shop
Across the street from their existing farmstand in New Milford on Route 109, their new Ice Cream shop is set to open very soon.
Read about it here
2023 CT Grown Free Downloadable Report Available
UConn DARE Zwick Center 2023 Farm to School Report available
Farm to school (FTS) programs across the State of Connecticut connect schools with fresh, local food producers. Using local procurement, school gardens, and education, these programs benefit both local producers and nutrition programs.
Click here for the downloadable report
Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program, due April 10, 2023
Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program improves the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers by maintaining and expanding a national, publicly available farm financial management database to support improved farm management. The FBMB program supports intellectual talent and collaborative efforts to meet the challenges facing the nation’s agriculture and food systems. Application closes on April 10. For more information, read the FBMB funding opportunity
Solid Ground Getting to the Root Short Video and Panel Discussions
A series exploring the entrepreneurial of new CT farmers.
March 9: Ethnic and Specialty Crops
Video Premier featuring Juliet Muhenga. Farmer Panelists; Tacina Walcott Thompson, Natty Roots Gardens, Uloma Onuma
Thursday March 9th, 2023 , 12-1:30pm , virtual event
Register here.
March 11: Added-Value Farm Products
Saturday, March 11, 2023, 9:45-11:00am. In person at Wesleyan University. Presented at CT NOFA’s 2023 Winter Conference.
Register here.
CT DOAG Specialty Crop Block Grant Applications due 3/1/2023
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture solicits applications on an annual basis for projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined by the USDA as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, maple syrup, honey, horticulture, and nursery crops.
Projects must impact and produce measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public. There is no minimum award amount, however projects are capped at $100,000. There is no match requirement.
Click here for more information.
Northeast Grazing and Livestock Conference (Virtual) Jan 20-21, 2023
The New England Grazing Network, Maine Grass Farmers Network, Granite State Grazers, The Livestock Institute, Vermont Grass Farmers Association, University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and Cornell Cooperative Extension Capital Area Ag & Hort Program present a region wide virtual grazing conference from January 20-21, 2023.
The conference is the largest of its kind in New England, gathering over 300 participants from the northeast for two days of networking and educational workshops. This conference brings together new and experienced farmers alike as well as service providers, and non-farmers seeking to learn more ways to align with and support well managed pasture-based livestock production across our region.
For more information or to register, click here.
UConn Online Vegetable Production Certificate Course Starting Jan. 30, 2023
Vegetable Production Certificate Course, beginning on January 30th 2023. It is a fully online course for new and beginning farmers who have 0-3 years of vegetable growing experience or no formal training in agriculture. The participants will learn answers to the basic questions about farm business planning, planning and preparing for vegetable farm, warm and cool-season vegetable production techniques, season extension, identification of biotic and abiotic issues, and marketing. The price of the course is $149.
Please contact the course coordinator, Shuresh Ghimire (Shuresh.Ghimire@uconn.edu, 860-870-6933) with any questions about this course.
For more information or to register, click here.
Healing by Growing Farms Northeast Disability and Agriculture Conference Feb.4, 2023 (Snow Date Feb 11)
The Northeast Disability and Agriculture Conference is a first-time regional event
designed to educate and empower the agricultural community. Through
workshops and presentations, farmer attendees will learn how to better advocate
for themselves, and service provider attendees will learn how to identify potential
distress risks within the community. Together attendees will learn how to build a
network sharing skills and resources to improve accessibility and reduce industry
incidents of suicide.
The Climate Smart Farming: Agriculture and Forestry Grant can fund projects in a variety of areas including, but not limited to:
Any agribusiness or entity, including nonprofit organization, soil and water conservation district, colleges and universities, municipality or for-profit organization in the State of Connecticut are eligible to apply.
All agricultural commodities can participate including aquaculture, agriculture and forestry. In addition, all production types will be supported including conventional/organic, indoor/outdoor, soil/water, and urban/rural.
CT DoAg plans to issue awards in varying amounts for program implementation from May 1, 2023, through May 1, 2028.
There will be four application funding tiers:
There is no match requirement for this grant.