2024 Agricultural Grants
Applications are now closed for 2024
Purpose of the Agricultural Grant Program: to provide a community support to the agricultural sector through some small grants that allow agricultural entities to overcome obstacles that otherwise make continuation of farming operations unnecessarily difficult. Council approved this grant process on the recommendation of The PEC Agricultural Advisory Group.
Grants will be available in the following sizes:
- $1,250 – Small Farm (2022 Farm Revenue below $75,000 gross)
- $2,000 – Medium Farm (2022 Farm Revenue below $500,000 gross)
The County Foundation will adjudicate based on geography, type of farming operations, and the explanation of the request provided in the application. Please be as detailed as possible.
The County Foundation provides a confidential adjudication process. Details about the owners and the farms are not included in the Adjudicators Package. Applications are seen as SMALL #1, SMALL #2, etc. A Final Report is submitted to the Municipality and in that report the owners and/or Farm will be confidential and will only list dollar amounts. The County Foundation does not provide communication support or advertise the successful applicants.
How to Apply
Application opened: December 13, 2023
Applications closed: January 22, 2024 at 12:00 noon
Recipients will be notified by end of February.
Can be submitted electronically, or scanned and emailed to info@thecountyfoundation.ca; or mailed or dropped off to 35 Bridge St, Suite 107 Picton, ON. It can be completed online using a public access computer or a hard copy provided.
Eligibility
Who is eligible:
- Prince Edward County-based farms who have a Farm Business Registration Number (FBRN) and a financial need based on:
- Unexpected expense/Unexpected drop in revenue
- Project to positively impact climate change
- Labour shortage
- Investment in succession planning
Who is not eligible:
- Non-PEC owned agricultural entities;
- People without a Farm Business Registration Number (FBRN) and have not uploaded an Exemption Letter
TCF reserves the right to increase the size of the various grants and/or consider an application under another stream based on the demand at time of application closure.
Additional Information
The 2022 Vital Signs Report highlighted that the median age of farmers is 59 in Prince Edward County … but 63% of PEC farmers do NOT have succession plans. Preparing a succession plan ensures that farmland will continue to be used for agricultural purposes. This is an important factor in ensuring food security for future generations in the County.
Looking for information on succession planning as a farmer?
- Ontario guide on succession planning
- Farm Credit Canada (FCC)
- Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
- The OFA partners with FarmLife a consulting company that focuses on succession planning. Members of the OFA also receive a discount.
Other Resources for Farmers:
- The Guardian Network – Volunteer, peer-driven community of mental health advocates that supports Ontario’s farming community
- Agriculture Wellness Ontario – Mental health support, education, and community for Ontario Agriculture
- Farmer Wellness Initiative – Provides access to free counselling services and tailored mental health support and resources to all Ontario farmers and their families
- CMHA Hastings Prince Edward Addictions and Mental Health Services
Accessibility
The County Foundation strives to make our grant application process as accessible as possible. If you would prefer to send a short video to provide the details of your request* instead of providing a written answer then we are happy to accept that. The video would then be transcribed by our staff ahead of the adjudication to ensure you remain anonymous. The brief follow-up report for the Agricultural Grants can also be substituted for a follow-up interview with our staff.
*We do still require an application form to be submitted but this is an option available for longer questions requiring more details.
If you have any other accessibility needs or require additional assistance then please feel free to reach out to info@thecountyfoundation.ca or call us at 613-519-4470.