On-farm projects that provide immediate and direct benefits to individual farms in Langley and the wider agricultural community are the focus of a new series of grants offered through the Langley Sustainable Agricultural Foundation.
Research, educational programs and on-farm improvements that support agriculture undertaken by farmers, students and post-secondary institutions are eligible for funding. Grants from $5,000 for research undertaken in partnership with accredited posts-secondary institutions to $2,000 for on-farm projects and $1,000 for a scholarship.
Among the eligible projects are those supporting a farm’s ecological or environmental sustainability, including water conservation, successful co-habitation with native plants and wildlife and the reduction of soil, water or air pollution. On-farm composting, repurposing or recycling projects are also eligible.
“Each project must be simple enough to complete within a short time frame, and must be easily replicable by other farmers,” says the foundation. “To ensure this, those who receive a grant or scholarship from the foundation must commit to creating a short video or some other means of communicating what they’ve learned to the wider agricultural community.”
The grant program is a first for the foundation, which was established in 2011. Past programs include piloting an ecological services initiative funded by the Township of Langley that offered financial incentives to farmers undertaking practices contributing to a healthy ecosystem.
Applications for the new series of grants are due February 21.
Groundwater deadline firm