Peconic Land Trust completes farm grant program

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Peconic Land Trust has approved the last of the funding from a $1 million state grant to help Long Island farmers.

The grant from the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council was launched in 2015 and funded through Empire State Development. The program assisted 57 new and established farmers across Nassau and Suffolk counties towards capital improvements and equipment and incentivized farmers to invest more than $5 million in the local agriculture industry, according to a statement from the organization.

The grant, which reimbursed farmers for 20 percent of their expenditures up to $50,000, included 16 new farm operations, 22 operations in transition and 18 expanding operations. Farmers were able to use the money towards tractors, deer fencing, refrigerated containers, irrigation equipment, green-energy upgrades, generators and more.

The land trust was assisted in administering the grant program by a number of other groups, including the Long Island Community Foundation, Suffolk County Economic Development and Planning, the Long Island Farm Bureau, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center, Farm Credit East, Long Island Wine Council and Edible East End.

Matt Schmitt of Schmitt Farms in Riverhead said the grant was vital to his family’s business.

“After working for years to increase our output and expand our ability to distribute, we found ourselves at a standstill without the capital to take the next step,” Schmitt said in the statement. “Since receiving the grant we have been able to purchase the equipment necessary to facilitate more efficient production and make upgrades to our facility which allow for greater distribution.”