In 2023, Freund’s Farm and NWCD partnered on a grant proposal for the National Fish and Wildlife’s Long Island Sound Future’s Fund (LISFF). With funding from LISFF and the US Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), the goal of this million-dollar project was to expand the farm’s manure storage capacity, allowing them to store six months worth of manure through the winter. This increased storage capacity enahnces the farm’s current innovative manure management practices, allowing them to spread manure onto their fields only when it is environmentally best to do so. Because the farm is on the floodplain of the Blackberry River, the impact this will have on watershed health cannot be understaded. 

The funding for this project came from a unique leveraging of funds between USDA-NRCS, NFWF LISFF, and the farm. In fact, the NRCS contract associated with this project was the largest ever signed in the state of CT! Not all solutions, however, have to cost over a million dollars. Lots of small changes can add up. To learn more about the project, check out the resources below.