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Conservation districts ask legislators for $50,000-a-year climate resilience grants for farms
Summary
Conservation districts and farmers told the Finance Committee that a $50,000 annual appropriation (HB 246) would leverage private donations and grant farmers up to $10,000 for projects that improve soil health, water management and farm resilience to extreme weather.
Representative Judy Aaron introduced House Bill 246, which would appropriate $50,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $50,000 in fiscal year 2027 to the Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food for distribution by the State Conservation Committee to 10 county conservation districts to implement a conservation district climate resilience grant program.
Aaron and cosponsors said the grants would fill gaps in federal and private funding by providing relatively small, targeted awards to farms that help with soil health, irrigation and other measures to adapt to droughts, heavy precipitation and pest pressure. Amanda Littleton of the Cheshire County Conservation District described the program’s structure: grants of up to $10,000 per farm in four categories (soil health, water management, on-farm energy and crop/livestock protection). She noted that since 2022 the districts had made 95 awards totaling more than $715,000 and that roughly 53% of awardees were “historically underserved.”
Conservation-district leaders and farmers emphasized that many New Hampshire farms operate on small margins: testimony cited that 80% of commercial NH farms gross under $25,000 and 92% gross under $100,000 (USDA Census figures referenced by witnesses). That reality, they argued, reduces farmers’ ability to make capital investments to increase resilience.
Ian Hanley of the State Conservation Committee explained that the districts receive little operational state funding, rely primarily on county support and project-based grants, and that a modest state appropriation would leverage private funders by showing state commitment. Amanda Littleton and representatives of county districts and farmers described grant-funded projects such as wells, no-till equipment, silvopasture, water-management infrastructure and greenhouses. County conservation supervisors said the $50,000 would be distributed roughly as $5,000 per county district to leverage private donations and farmer cost-share.
Committee members asked about program metrics and current funding levels. Littleton said the program had a 2025 grant round of about $336,000 and that the requested state funds would represent about 12% of an annual program budget; program administrators said they had to turn down roughly 30% of applications in prior rounds due to insufficient funds.
The committee did not vote; HB 246 will be considered further in division.
