07-04-2025
CT land conservancy group award grants. Farms here among top in country at risk of loss: official
In an effort to help farmers adopt practices that enhance sustainability, productivity, and climate resilience, the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy said it has awarded climate-smart agricultural grants.
It is the second round of the Building Resiliency on Northwest Connecticut Farmland Implementation Grant program, according to the land, conservancy.
The Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy received $750,000 from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture through the Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry Grant program in March 2023. The NCLC was one of 12 recipients of the $7 million to be allocated to agricultural and conservation entities.
Funding for 18 of the 22 climate-smart agricultural assessments conducted by Berkshire Agricultural Ventures were announced last fall. Now, the Hamlin Preserve and Mary Moore Preserve, both of Sharon, as well as Roxbury's Riverbank Farm and Sandy Hook's Rowledge Pond Aquaculture were named awardees announced by the NCLC of building resiliency grants.
'Connecticut's farms are in the top three for most at risk of loss in the country. NCLC's Building Resiliency grant program provides direct investments to help our state's farmers and farms adapt and thrive in a changing climate,' Catherine Rawson, NCLC executive director said, in a statement. 'NCLC is proud to work alongside our farming community to strengthen food security and ecological resilience for generations to come.'
The NCLC service area includes Litchfield County and the towns of Brookfield, Newtown, and Sherman in Fairfield County.
'Connecticut's agricultural producers are committed to being part of the climate change solution through on-farm energy, soil health, and carbon sequestration projects to further increase their sustainability and resiliency,' Connecticut Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt said, also in the statement.
'Through the support of the Lamont Administration, CT DoAg has been proud to partner with organizations such as NCLC to make strategic investments in farm operations to support climate smart farming practices and long-term resiliency projects which will have a long-term positive impact.'
The program provides funding in an effort to reduce emissions, sequester carbon and implement climate-smart practices, according to officials. In addition to 10 implementation grant awardees chosen last fall, the NCLC recently chose 15 more implementation grantees that were selected from beef, dairy, poultry, fish, forestry, vegetable, fruit and flower farms across Litchfield and northern Fairfield Counties.
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Those selections include Adamah, Inc. in Falls Village ($16,000); Canaan View Dairy, LLC in East Canaan ($24,000); Carlwood Farm, LLC in Canaan ($10,000); Sarah Lang – Conundrum Farm in Kent ($30,000); Cricket Hill Garden in Thomaston ($15,000); Chandravir and Roberta Ahuja – Great Ring Farm in Sandy Hook ($3,000); Hathor Hill Farm, LLC in Lakeside ($20,000); Howling Flats Farm, LLC in Canaan ($8,000); Kalenauskas Farm, LLC in Watertown ($21,000); Michael Crotta – Lakeside Farm in Lakeside ($12,000); Rowledge Pond Aquaculture, LLC in Sandy Hook ($23,000); Steep Rock Association, Inc. in New Preston ($12,000); The Stead Farm, LLC in Barkhamsted ($9,000); Town of New Milford – Sullivan Farm in New Milford ($6,000), and Wright Farm, LLC in Goshen ($3,000).
'It is imperative we reverse the loss and degradation of our farmlands, particularly given the increasing challenges of extreme and unpredictable weather patterns,' Hathor Hill Farm co-owner Joe McCartin said in the statement.
'Climate-smart agriculture funding will help more farms adopt practices that can mitigate the effects of severe weather conditions. The more we shift to climate-smart practices like no-till planting to minimize erosion and rotational grazing to restore soil organic matter, the better we will be at ensuring that food production is more stable and resilient.'
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Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy is a non-profit conservation organization founded in 1965 that protects 13,400 acres and includes 22 public hiking preserves, 49 working farms, 57 miles of rivers and streams, and more than 3,000 acres of habitat for rare and endangered species, according to the NCLC website.
