The Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF) has announced they will be helping out five local farm projects in a big way.
The group confirmed on Thursday that Dockum Farms Ltd., Field House Brewing Co., Goat’s Pride Dairy, Green Flora Greenhouses Ltd. and the MEI Agriculture Program will split a total of $105,000 through ACF grants.
The five local farming initiatives met the criteria of revitalization of unused or underutilized land in the Abbotsford ALR, with the objective of creating more usable and productive farmland.
“We are proud to partner with the City of Abbotsford to provide grants annually to our farming community,” stated Lorna Hart, ACF Board Chair in a press release. “ACF has provided more than $650,000 through our Agriculture Enhancement grants over the past five years to support one of Abbotsford’s key economic drivers.”
ACF Agricultural Enhancement Grants Committee Chair, Marcus Janzen, noted “the focus of revitalization of unused or underutilized farm land in Abbotsford has been identified in the Ag Refresh plan at the City as an area that should be expanded on.” He went on to further state that “each of the grant recipients have specific projects targeted to reclaiming unused agriculture land.”
The ACF committee is comprised of local farmers and individuals with a passion for serving the Abbotsford farming community.
Wendy Neufeld, Executive Director, remarked that there were a large number of worthy applications. “Our Agriculture Grants Committee chose five excellent projects whose outcomes will have a positive impact in agriculture production in our community. A presentation of the grants was held on May 28 at Brambles Bistro. Each of the recipients was given the opportunity to provide an overview of their project and the expected outcomes.”
For more information on the ACF and its programs, visit abbotsfordcf.org.