Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with the Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”
This week, Mike Davis fills in for Rhonda and talks with Commissioner Troxler about grants the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund recently awarded to nonprofit groups and county governments across the state.
The trust fund awarded more than $2 million to help conservation groups purchase easements on 12 farms across the state. The easements will protect farmland from development while providing farmers with capital to expand or improve their operations.
The trust fund also awarded $330,000 to conservation and nonprofit groups and county governments to support farmland protection plans, Voluntary Agricultural Districts and agricultural development projects. These projects include livestock facilities, marketing programs and the expansion of grain storage facilities. The ag development projects will support limited-resource and beginning farmers.
Commissioner Troxler says the small investment we can make in our state’s leading industry will pay off many times over in jobs and our ability to produce our own food.
NOTE: Due to a technical glitch, audio is currently unavailable through In the Field. Please click here to listen to the audio on Southern Farm Network’s Ag Daily website.
[Audio: Troxler_7-6.mp3]
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