Dairy farm families across America are facing tremendous challenges due to many factors including a weak dairy economy, disruptions from severe weather, and an aging farming population. American Farmland Trust is joining Chobani with the Dairy Forward program to support dairy farmers in planning for the future. This blog post provides information about this new grant program for dairy farmers, including eligibility requirements and how to apply. Scroll down to the end of this article for a video recording from a recent webinar hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension on Wednesday, February 24 featuring guest presenter Molly Johnston-Heck from American Farmland Trust.
Purpose
Grants of $500 to $5,000 are being made available to help dairy farm families in New York access information and professional services to help plan for farm transitions. These funds may be used for one of the eligible activities listed below.
Eligible Activities
Farm Transfer and Succession Planning
Farm transfer planning aims to ensure the successful transfer of ownership and management of a farm in a way that achieves the personal objectives of a farm family. Grant funds can be used to work with service providers such as an attorney to develop a farm transfer and estate plan that could include a will, health care proxy or other legal documents such as an operating or buy/sell agreement and/or a farm business consultant to help with farm business transfer planning. Find more information here.
Farm Business Planning
Changes in a farm business —be it better management of existing resources, or in the launch of a new enterprise – can lead to enhanced farm profitability. Grant funds can be used to hire a farm business consultant to develop a plan to improve farm viability by setting business goals, researching processing alternatives, determining potential markets, evaluating financing options, developing a new farm enterprise and other purposes. Find more information here.
Permanently Protecting Land
Nearly 7 million acres of farmland across America have been permanently protected. Protecting farmland can help farm families achieve personal goals as well as tap into the equity in their land, establish retirement funds, reinvest in their farm business or meet other family needs. Grant funds can be used to pay for professional services associated with conveying a permanent agricultural conservation easement including but not limited to land planning, appraisals, surveys or legal fees. Find more information here.
Adopting Regenerative Farming Practices
Regenerative farming practices can help farmers improve soil health, sequester carbon, improve farm productivity and become more resilient to severe weather. Grant funds can be used to hire a certified crop advisor, Soil and Water Conservation District employee or other technical service provider to develop plans for the adoption of conservation practices that promote soil health. These practices could include cover crops, no-till and reduced tillage, prescribed grazing and crop rotations. Find more information here.
Eligibility Requirements
- Any dairy farmer located in New York state is eligible to apply. Applications will also be accepted from service providers applying on behalf of dairy farmers located in New York state. Please note: the principal operator of the farm will be required to sign the funding agreement if an award has been approved.
- The farm must have sold at least $1,000 of agricultural products in 2020 to be eligible.
- Only one application will be accepted from each dairy farm operation.
- A service provider must be identified to apply for this grant.
- Service providers engaged by dairy farmers must have appropriate qualifications. Types of eligible service providers may include, but are not limited to, attorneys, certified crop advisors, extension educators, farm business consultants, and Soil and Water Conservation District employees.
- Grant recipients will be asked to participate in communications efforts related to the Dairy Forward partnership. AFT will seek review and approval from farmers, partners and service providers involved prior to publication.
Award Process
- Applications will be accepted beginning on January 20, 2021.
- Grants will be awarded based on the order they are received from eligible applicants that will use funds in a manner consistent with grant guidelines.
- Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and grants will be awarded until available funds have been expended.
- The execution of a grant agreement is required to have funds awarded.
- The grant payment will not be made directly to the farmer. Payment will be made to the approved service provider upon completion of work.
- Service provider must provide an invoice and signed W9 to be reimbursed for services.
- An invoice will not be paid without prior approval in writing from American Farmland Trust.
- To comply with Internal Revenue Service record keeping requirements, the service provider will need to maintain and make available for review for a period of three years after the completion of the services, records pertaining to the project.
Application
There is no fixed application deadline, but farms are encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible. Funds are distributed on a rolling basis as eligible applications are received, so getting your application in early means you have a better chance of receiving funding before the grant money runs out.
The application must be completed online and is available here: DAIRY FORWARD GRANT APPLICATION
You can download a preview of the application here as a Word document. This file lists everything that you need to complete the application, which allows you to gather all the necessary information before you begin entering data into the online application portal.
Questions?
Please contact dairy@farmland.org with questions regarding your application. Make sure to include the farm name in any communication regarding your application.