Jaime Foster

 

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture has announced recipients of the 2025 Farm Transition Grant to bolster agricultural production of both new and existing farm operations. More than $527,000 has been awarded to fund 29 projects throughout the state. 

Congratulations to Sand Meadow Farm in Ellington for receiving one of the grants - a $5,000 new farmer microgrant - to build a small, on-site farm store.

CT DoAg received a total of 80 submitted grant proposals for the highly competitive grant round, with funding requests of nearly $1.6 million for total project costs of more than $3.9 million. Of the awarded funds, $303,395 will support seven farms to produce a new product, $165,150 will fortify nine farms with critical infrastructure, $55,550 will bolster twelve farms in their first three years of production, and $3,900 will assist one farm in testing the viability of a new product. Additionally, 20 of the 29 recipients have not received a Farm Transition Grant award within the last five years, 19 are beginning farmers and eight are farmer veterans.

Awards span the full scope of Connecticut’s diverse agriculture industry. Chickens are particularly well represented this round with seven projects to increase poultry production, four increasing egg production, and one impacting poultry processing. Other represented sectors include meat, fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, vineyards, honey, and maple syrup.