Farmers and rural small business operators interested in renewable energy and value-added projects should attend a grant workshop sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency on Tuesday, Januar 27. The workshop is being held at the Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension office at 69 Ferndale-Loomis Road in Liberty from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
If the event is canceled due to snow, it will be held at the Sullivan County CCE office from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 28.
USDA Rural Development's Renewable Energy for America Program provides grants and loan guarantees to farmers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements. Eligible projects include biomass, wind, solar, geothermal and hydrogen; energy efficiency projects reduce energy usage in existing buildings and processes. Last year, 16 New York projects received more than $1.6 million through the program.
The Value-Added Producer Grant program assists agriculture producers in developing and implementing business plans for value-added activities. Value-added activities are projects that create additional revenue from existing crops and other production. Examples include the processing of raw commodities to a finished product – such as apples to apple butter or milk to ice cream – and the direct marketing of farm crops.
Awards may be made for planning activities or for working capital expenses, but not for both. Applicants must provide matching funds at least equal to the amount of the grant requested. In 2008, three New York projects received $342,000 in program grants.
