For Immediate Release, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025
Micro-Grants Available for Adirondack Farms, Producers, Value-Added Business
ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. — The Adirondack Council’s Micro-Grants program will offer up to $25,000 this year to support sustainable and innovative projects on working lands within the Adirondack Park.
This is the 10th consecutive year that the Council’s Essex Farm Institute has offered micro-grants to support local farms, local food production and processors utilizing local inputs. Over the prior 9 years, the Council’s Micro-Grant program has awarded grants to 149 recipients totaling $241,497.25. The Adirondack Council recently completed an impact study of its Micro-Grant program, and how it has benefitted the environmental, human and financial sustainability of agriculture in the Champlain Valley and across the Adirondack Park. The report will be released later this year.
Farmers and value-added producers have used the funds for innovative projects that promote biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prevent waste and bolster food security in the region.
In addition to the traditional grants of $1500, since 2022 the application also provides opportunities for larger farms and agricultural businesses to receive up to $3000 for projects focusing on sustainability.
The Adirondack Park is a six-million-acre reserve of public and private lands. Public lands comprise nearly half of the park and are protected by the NY Constitution as “forever wild.” Private lands include 130 rural communities, commercial timberlands, private estates, resorts and roughly 1,300 farms. Adirondack farmland is concentrated in the Lake Champlain watershed, the St. Lawrence River Valley and the Sacandaga River Valley as well as some isolated lowlands adjacent to the High Peaks.
These farming regions are connected by the Park’s abundant natural wonders, including the state’s tallest mountains, more than 11,000 lakes and ponds, some 30,000 miles of rivers, brooks and streams, ancient never-logged forests, and most of the state’s rare, threatened and endangered plant and animal species.
Within the Park’s 130 rural communities are about 130,000 year-round residents and 200,000 seasonal residents, and some portion of more than 12.4 million annual visitors.
“So, there are plenty of people to feed. And because this Park attracts people who care about the environment and the future, there is a lot of interest in locally produced food and consumer goods that are sustainable,” said Adirondack Council Director of Conservation, Jackie Bowen. “These micro-grants enable local producers to continue making management decisions that are positive for the environment.”
“Our grant program has been very helpful to farmers, crafters and makers who are creating local products or who are working towards an Adirondack supply-chain,” Dillon Klepetar, the Adirondack Council’s Farm Advocate said. “The more we can accomplish locally, the more money we retain in the community circulating between producers and consumers… but also among the local businesses and tradespeople that keep the rural economy intact.”
As the Adirondack Park’s largest environmental advocacy organization, the Adirondack Council recognizes the vital role agriculture plays in meeting climate goals, sustaining the health of natural resources and fostering economically vibrant communities from the ground up. It adopted the Essex Farm Institute to ensure that local farmers would have assistance in reducing costs (fuel, fertilizer, electric power, waste removal) by adopting or inventing in more environmentally-friendly methods that have steep up-front costs. Over the years farmers have demonstrated innovative ways to protect the environment while maintaining their bottom line.
The Klipper Family Fund established and continues to support this impactful project that has spurred long-lasting environmental solutions at nearly every stage of the local food system, from production, processing, and storage to sales and distribution.
Grants and Application Deadline:
For the 2025 cycle, competitive awards will be made at two levels of eligibility:
Tier 1: up to $1,500 for projects on small farms or value-added producers so that those businesses might adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change or improve or restore environmental health.
Tier 2: Larger businesses – those with greater acreage, employees or gross sales – will be eligible to apply for more competitive $3,000 grants.
Applications are due by April 1st, 2025. For more information and to apply, please click here.
Funded projects will demonstrate an objective environmental benefit, which may include improving soil health or water quality, reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, or other environmentally healthy and sustainable farming, forestry or processing efforts. Preference will also be given to applicants identifying as a traditionally underserved population or projects that address social or economic inequities among business owners and/or their employees.
Eligible applicants are commercial, for-profit farms within the Adirondack Park and value-added producers who use a majority of inputs that originate from within the Adirondack Park.
The Adirondack Council is a privately funded not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. The Council envisions a Park with clean water and clean air, comprised of core wilderness areas, surrounded by farms and working forests, as well as vibrant communities.
The Adirondack Council carries out its mission through research, education, advocacy, and legal action. Adirondack Council advocates live in all 50 United States.
The Essex Farm Institute is supported by the Adirondack Council with generous support from the Klipper Fund and others.
For more information:
John Sheehan, Adirondack Council Director of Communications, 518-441-1340