The United States Department of Agriculture has announced $196 million in funding in hopes to strengthen the food supply chain by allocating funding to 185 projects across the country, including 10 farms in New York.  

“Today’s investments in agricultural producers and rural entrepreneurs will create better economic opportunities that bolster food supply chains across the country and increase competition — a key pillar of Bidenomics,” said USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “This will result in more affordable prices and choices for consumers as well as more opportunities and revenue for farmers.”

Elly’s Acres Farm in Jamesville, owned by New York state Assembly member John Lemondes, was one of the 10 farms awarded funding. 

“[These grants] contribute to stability in our agricultural supply chain, they contribute to food security and without them we would probably have much higher food prices and much more volatile food production with respect to availability,” Lemondes said.  

Lemondes raises grass-fed sheep for meat and wool production. There are a little over 2,000 sheep farms in New York state, according to the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture.  

“One of the reasons why domestic lamb production has a tougher time expanding is because those products are imported from places like Australia and New Zealand,” Lemondes said.  

The funding will go toward expanding his lamb production and outreach for consumers.  

“If you were to go to the grocery store right now and look at the lamb on their shelf, you would see some really crazy prices and so part of this goes to the consumers understanding of product availability. You will have lots of people buy foreign products from 10,000 miles away and not even know there’s a farm like ours in their backyard,” Lemondes said.  

Another farm awarded funding was New Moon Farmstead in Munnsville, Madison County, owned by Chris and Sarah Ficken. The couple has created a way to disperse their beef and pork locally, but the grant will allow them to distribute their meat further.  

“We are looking at entering a slightly different geographic market than we’re in right now and so the value-added producers grant is going to allow us to focus some of our marketing efforts downstate,” Sarah Ficken said.  

Entering a new market comes with risks but the funding will help eliminate some of that for small farms, Ficken said.  

“Inherently, there’s a ton of risk, financially and otherwise, but the grant minimizes some of that financial risk so we can feel a bit braver about the market expansion,” she said.