State Agriculture Commissioner Announces Nearly $1.7 Awarded to F...

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today announced that nearly $1.7 million has been awarded to 20 farm and food businesses to help them purchase equipment to expand and strengthen the middle of the food supply chain in New York State. Funded through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program, the awards will support processing, packing, aggregating, storing, and distributing of New York grown or produced food products. The grants build on New York State's efforts to create a more resilient food system in New York State.

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, "The ability to purchase critical new equipment will be a game changer for so many farm and food businesses and will allow them to get more fresh, local foods to New Yorkers. I congratulate all of the awardees and look forward to seeing the impact these projects have on our communities."

Farm and Food Growth Fund President and CEO Todd Erling said, "The strategic combination of both the infrastructure and equipment-only rounds of the RFSI program will greatly impact the State's middle-of-the-supply chain, providing more market access opportunities for our dairy, fruit, and vegetable farmers, as well as value-added producers. By supporting processing and aggregation, we can also enhance distribution by moving food more efficiently and to wider markets and institutional purchasing."

Awards were open to New York State farms and food businesses. Awarded projects focus on increasing the supply of New York-sourced food products available in the marketplace. Twenty entities in nine regions of the state received awards:

• Capital Region: three awards totaling $290,878
  • Good Food Farmers Network LLC
  • Samascott Orchards
  • The Amazing Real Live Food Company, LLC (Chaseholm Farm Creamery)
• Central New York: two awards totaling $200,000
  • G & R D'Agostino Quality Produce Inc.
  • Reeves Farms LLC,
• Finger Lakes: three awards totaling $284,000
  • Berryfield Bottling LLC (Red Jacket Orchards)
  • Stony Brook Whole Hearted Foods LLC
  • Sweet Farm Foundation
• Mid-Hudson: two awards totaling $139,502
  • Dartagnan Farms Foundation
  • Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy LLC
• Mohawk Valley: one award totaling $99,640
  • George's Farm Products Inc.
• New York City: two awards totaling $145,517
  • Aunt Ethel's Pot Pies
  • Corbin Hill Food Project
• North Country: two awards totaling $198,000
  • Overflow Creamery
  • YC WORKS (Nature's Storehouse)
• Southern Tier: one award totaling $100,000
  • Norwich Meadows Farm LLC
• Western New York: four awards totaling $253,910
  • Barrel + Brine Inc.
  • Carlberg Farm Livestock and Produce
  • FreshFix
  • Perry-Dice Organics

The State contributed $300,000 in addition to $1.39 million provided in federal funds, for a total of $1.69 million awarded.

The Department partnered with Farm and Food Growth Fund, Inc (FFGF) to administer the funding. The Department also worked with Tierra Viva Collective to provide technical assistance on developing a competitive application and to facilitate language access assistance for applicants who speak Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin.

About the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Grant Program

First announced in May 2024, the RFSI Grant Program in total offered over $14.7 million through two grant opportunities - Infrastructure Grants and Equipment-Only Grants - to provide capital and technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating at the middle of the supply chain, helping to enhance coordination throughout the food system, and improve access to markets for farmers. In June, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 19 farm and food organizations were awarded a total of $13.7 million through the program's Infrastructure Grants, which support projects focused on the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, or distribution of agricultural food products.

New York State continues to prioritize increasing access to food for all New Yorkers and providing new markets for farmers through a number of programs and initiatives supported in the New York State's FY 2026 Budget, including Nourish New York, the Food Access Expansion Grant Program, Farm-to-School Programs, the Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs, the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grants Programs, and more.

These investments build on the Governor's commitment to boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York's food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers can access fresh, local foods. This includes the Governor's Executive Order 32 directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years. The Governor has also committed $25 million toward the New York State Grown & Certified Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Development Grant Program to assist food producers, processors, distributors, and others using New York ingredients to bring innovative NYS Grown & Certified products to market.

About Farm and Food Growth Fund

The mission of Farm and Food Growth Fund is to create employment and safe affordable housing, capital access opportunities for low-and-moderate income individuals, families and communities with a focus on farm and food-related industries located in the Northeast Foodshed encompassing parts of the greater Hudson Valley, western Connecticut, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and eastern Pennsylvania by stimulating economic vitality through technical assistance services, community development and increasing the flow of capital.