Equipment Sharing Hubs Available for CT Farmers

The Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc. (CT RC&D) is pleased to offer Climate Smart Agriculture Equipment Sharing Hubs funded in part by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry Grant established by the Community Investment Act (C.G.S. Sec. 22-26k). A portion of the grant funds will be used to implement and support 4 Equipment Sharing Hubs. One Hub will be housed in each of the following locations: the CT River Valley, Northeastern CT, and Northwestern CT, providing access to farmers operating within those regions. A fourth, statewide, Hub will be housed by and accessible to Farmer Veterans. This project will provide access to climate smart equipment for three growing seasons (2024-2026) while fostering collaborative education in geographically diverse areas.

CT RC&D’s Equipment Sharing Hubs will enable climate smart agriculture practices on farms across Connecticut. The climate smart practices (identified by USDA NRCS) will encourage and/or enable soil health practices including, but not limited to, planting of cover crops, conservation crop rotation, conservation tillage (no-till/low till), mulching, composting, nutrient management, improved grazing and pasture, and land management in agricultural operations. Implementation of this project will enable more agricultural producers the opportunity to cooperatively use equipment, develop a network for information sharing, and implement climate smart practices on their farms, thereby increasing soil health without individually buying each of the equipment aides on their own.

CT RC&D is currently accepting applications from farms interested in participating in the equipment hubs by either being an Equipment Hub Host or surrounding area Equipment Hub User. Equipment Hub Hosts will be selected for each geographic area served by this project and will be required to provide covered space for storage for all pieces of Hub equipment. Once an Equipment Hub Host has been selected, farms in the geographic area can participate as Equipment Hub Users by scheduling equipment through an online calendar reservation system. Equipment Hub Hosts and Users are responsible for supplying trained staff to use each piece of equipment reserved for use on their farm. Farm Equipment Users are responsible for legally transporting the equipment to and from the Equipment Hub Host farm. All farms participating will be responsible for ensuring equipment is cleaned, maintained, and kept in good working order, and tracking hours of use.

Farms will not receive any direct payments through participation in this Climate Smart Equipment Sharing Hub program. The benefit of this project is access to equipment for improving soil health on the farm. Each participating farm will be required to provide in-kind time to assist with monitoring the results of equipment used on their farm for the duration of the project.