Climate Resilience Project Scope
The main goal of this project is to help farmers transition to climate smart agriculture practices, with the intended resilience benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farm operations and building resilience for farm operations in the face of weather related events. Specific actions this year included the funding of solar photovoltaic arrays on operating farms.
Metrics and Results
Progress for solar photovoltaic installations can be measured by either or both system size and/or greenhouse gas emissions mitigated. Two photovoltaic projects were funded this fiscal year, a 5.88 kW array at Hopestill Farm and a 25 kW array at Red Fire Farm.
Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Lessons learned this year included examples of risk when projects are attached to other funding sources, particularly federal funding sources, that can suddenly become unavailable for one reason or another. This created uncertainty that jeopardized project implementation and also resulted in reducing system sizes as a function of reduce available funding.
Further Action
There are plans and funding to continue similar efforts in FY26.