New York Opens $16.8 Million Climate-Farming Grant Round — But Farmers Cannot Apply Directly

ALBANY, N.Y. — September 25, 2026. New York has opened a new $16.8 million competitive funding round for agricultural projects designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, improve soil health and help farms withstand floods, droughts and other severe weather.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the funding during Climate Week NYC on September 24 through the state’s Climate Resilient Farming Program.

But a review of the official New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets grant documents shows an important distinction: the $16.8 million has not yet been awarded to farmers.

It is the total amount available for Round 10 of a competitive grant program. And individual farmers are not the formal applicants.

Applications must be submitted by New York’s County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, or groups of districts acting jointly, on behalf of participating farms.

The deadline is November 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. New York lists March 2027 as the tentative date for announcing awards.

Where the $16.8 Million Is Going

The detailed Request for Proposals, RFP 0430, divides the available money among four funding tracks.

What Does “Climate Resilient” Actually Mean?

The name of the program can sound broader than the projects it funds.

“Climate resilience” does not literally mean resisting the climate. In government and scientific usage, resilience generally means the ability of a farm, community or other system to prepare for, withstand, recover from and adapt to disruptive events.

In the New York application itself, that concept becomes much more concrete.

Applicants seeking funding for adaptation and resiliency projects are asked about stormwater runoff, floodwater storage, soil erosion, hydrology, floodplain exposure and the severity and frequency of storms for which a project is designed.

Those are measurable agricultural and engineering problems.

But they also raise an important policy question: when does an ordinary farm-protection project become a “climate resilience” project?

Flood control, irrigation, erosion prevention, soil improvement and water management existed long before the term “climate resilience” became common in public policy.

The state’s application asks farms to describe climate vulnerabilities including increased flooding, short droughts, severe storms, increased precipitation and extreme temperature fluctuations, and to explain how the proposed project will reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

That establishes the policy connection required by the program. It does not, by itself, establish that every individual flood, drought or erosion problem experienced by a participating farm was caused by climate change.

That distinction matters when evaluating the program. A project may provide valuable protection to a farm even when attributing a particular local weather event or infrastructure problem to long-term climate change is more difficult.

Program Track	Funding Available
Track 1: Livestock Management — Manure and Methane Management & Precision Feed Management	$6,000,000
Track 2: Adaptation & Resiliency	$4,800,000
Track 3: Healthy Soils NY — Soil Health and Agroforestry	$5,000,000
Track 4: Agricultural Forestry Management	$1,000,000
Total	$16,800,000

The largest individual allocation — $6 million — is directed to livestock-related projects involving manure, methane and precision feed management.

Another $5 million is reserved for soil-health and agroforestry projects, while $4.8 million is available for projects intended to make farms more resilient to extreme weather. Agricultural forestry receives $1 million.

The RFP also allows unused funding from one track to be reallocated to eligible projects in other tracks if money remains after ranked projects have been funded.

Farmers Cannot Submit the State Application Directly

This is one of the most important practical details for farmers considering the program.

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets says proposals are accepted from New York State Soil and Water Conservation Districts or groups of districts acting jointly.

A participating farm therefore works through its local district rather than independently submitting the state grant application.

The County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Board of Directors has authority to prioritize and select the applications and farm projects submitted for competitive ranking.

Projects must originate through New York’s Agricultural Environmental Management, or AEM, framework.

AEM is described by the state as a voluntary, confidential and incentive-based program through which farmers assess and plan natural-resource conservation projects.

What Can Be Funded?

The four tracks cover substantially different types of agricultural investment.

Track 1: Livestock, Manure and Methane — $6 Million

The state’s RFP identifies livestock as the largest source of agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions covered by the program.

New York estimates agricultural activities covered by the program produce approximately 7 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions per year, excluding agricultural energy use classified elsewhere.

According to the RFP, livestock accounts for roughly 92 percent of those emissions and soils for approximately 8 percent.

Eligible practices can include manure-storage systems, covers and flares, solid-liquid separation equipment, composting systems, rotational grazing and precision feed management.

The objective is not limited to reducing methane. Some projects are also designed to make manure systems more capable of handling major precipitation events.

Track 2: Flood, Drought and Weather Resilience — $4.8 Million

The second track focuses on the ability of farms to continue operating as weather conditions change.

The state identifies risks including more intense precipitation, flood events, periods of drought and temperature changes.

Eligible approaches can include water-control structures, streambank stabilization, stormwater management, erosion control and conservation irrigation systems.

These projects can have a direct operational purpose for a farm regardless of the broader debate over climate policy: protecting soil, water systems, crops and infrastructure from damaging weather can reduce business disruption and agricultural losses.

Track 3: Healthy Soils and Agroforestry — $5 Million

The Healthy Soils NY track supports agricultural practices intended to improve soil health and increase carbon storage.

The state says healthier soils may also increase water-holding capacity and improve the efficiency with which crops use nitrogen.

That means soil projects may serve several purposes simultaneously: improving agricultural productivity and resilience while also contributing to the state’s greenhouse-gas reduction goals.

Track 4: Agricultural Forestry — $1 Million

The smallest allocation is for agricultural forestry management.

Projects can involve forest management, reforestation, afforestation and other practices designed to store additional carbon in woody biomass, roots and forest soils.

Urban Agriculture Can Qualify Too

The RFP contains another detail that may be particularly relevant in New York City and other urban areas.

For purposes of this program, New York’s definition of eligible farm operations can include urban agriculture.

The state specifically lists community gardens, rooftop farms, hydroponic facilities, aeroponic facilities, aquaponic facilities and vertical production as examples of urban agriculture.

Participation still requires involvement in the AEM program and an eligible project under the grant rules.

Beginning Farmers Can Receive a Scoring Advantage

Round 10 also includes preference points for some new participants.

The RFP says proposals containing a qualifying new participant or beginning farmer receive five additional preference points in the application scoring process.

For this program, a new participant is generally a farm operation that has not received a Climate Resilient Farming or Agricultural Nonpoint Source grant during the previous 10 years.

A beginning farmer is defined for this purpose as an individual or entity that has not operated a farm for more than 10 consecutive years.

$94 Million Awarded in the First Nine Rounds

The Hochul administration says New York has awarded approximately $94 million through the first nine rounds of the Climate Resilient Farming Program, covering 713 on-farm projects.

The state estimates those projects will result in more than 639,483 metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent reductions over their expected lifetimes.

The administration compares that estimate with removing approximately 149,163 gasoline-powered cars from the road for one year.

There is an important distinction in that figure.

The 639,483 metric tons is an estimated reduction over the expected lifespan of the projects. It should not be read as a measurement showing that 639,483 tons of emissions have already been independently verified as eliminated.

Using the state’s two aggregate figures — $94 million awarded and 639,483 metric tons of estimated lifetime reductions — produces a simple arithmetic ratio of approximately $147 of awarded funding per projected lifetime metric ton of CO2e reduction.

That figure should not be treated as a complete measure of program cost-effectiveness because the grants also finance flood resilience, water protection, soil improvements and other agricultural benefits. Different projects also have different useful lives and objectives.

How This Differs From Another $25 Million New York Farm Program

The Climate Resilient Farming Program is not the only environmental grant program directing state funding toward agriculture.

Midtown Tribune previously reported on a separate $25 million New York agricultural water-quality funding round involving 50 projects across 25 counties.

That program, the Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Abatement and Control Program, was primarily focused on protecting water resources and reducing agricultural runoff.

Read Midtown Tribune’s earlier coverage: New York Announces $25 Million for Farmers to Protect Waterways

The new $16.8 million Climate Resilient Farming round overlaps with some water and soil objectives but places additional emphasis on methane management, greenhouse-gas accounting, carbon sequestration and adaptation to severe weather.

The Program Arrives During Climate Week NYC

The announcement came during Climate Week NYC, as government officials, businesses, researchers and advocacy groups gathered in New York to discuss climate, energy and environmental policy.

Midtown Tribune recently examined a broader question surrounding Climate Week: what government agencies and scientific institutions mean when they refer to a scientific consensus on global warming, where strong areas of agreement exist and where scientific and policy disagreements remain.

Read: Climate Week NYC 2026 — What Does “Scientific Consensus” on Global Warming Actually Mean?

The Key Question Comes After the Grants Are Awarded

For taxpayers and farmers, the long-term test of the program will be what happens after New York announces the grants.

The state requires proposed projects to have defined and measurable outcomes related to greenhouse-gas reductions, carbon sequestration or farm resilience.

That creates several measurable questions Midtown Tribune can revisit once the grants are awarded:

How much of the $16.8 million is ultimately awarded?
Which Soil and Water Conservation Districts receive funding?
Which farms participate?
How much money goes to methane management, soil health, weather resilience and forestry?
How many funded projects are completed?
What emissions reductions are projected, and what results are eventually measured?
What improvements are documented in soil health, water management or erosion control?
Do resilience projects reduce losses when farms later experience floods, droughts or other severe weather?

Those figures would allow the program to be evaluated based not only on dollars announced but on measurable results after the money is spent.

How to Apply

The formal applicants are County Soil and Water Conservation Districts rather than individual farmers.

Farmers interested in participating should therefore contact their local Soil and Water Conservation District to determine whether a proposed project qualifies and can be developed through the Agricultural Environmental Management process.

Applications must be submitted to the state through SharePoint.

The RFP states that mailed, delivered or faxed proposals will not be accepted.

Important dates:

October 23, 2026: Deadline for written questions concerning the RFP.
October 30, 2026: Final questions-and-answers document scheduled to be posted.
November 23, 2026, 5:00 p.m.: Proposal deadline.
March 2027: Tentative announcement of grant awards.

Primary Sources

Related Midtown Tribune Coverage

Midtown Tribune will continue to track the Climate Resilient Farming Program as applications close and New York announces the Round 10 grant recipients.

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