SARANAC LAKE | The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) has been awarded a $558,000 federal grant to support climate-smart agroforestry projects on small farms in northern New York. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) awarded the regional economic nonprofit a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant to help farmers diversify their operations while implementing farming practices that improve land, water and air quality across the region.
The pilot project will provide customized technical assistance to participating farms and monitor economic and environmental benefits of utilizing agroforestry practices like silvopasture — a technique that integrates livestock, forage crops and trees on the same land. Planning and implementation phases of the project are expected to take two years, beginning in the summer and fall of 2023.
“Agroforestry practices like silvopasture help to retain soil moisture, mitigate soil loss, and sequester carbon, while also providing shade and fodder for livestock,” said ANCA Local Food Systems Program Director Adam Dewbury. “This grant will allow ANCA to provide no-cost technical support for agroforestry planning and implementation on farms, as well as financing for implementation.”
Read the full story in the Sun Community News.