New York farmers who lost equipment or other infrastructure to this year's back-to-back tropical storms may be able to tap a $5 million fund set up by the state. The program will be run by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to help farmers recover from Irene and Lee.
It will provide money for replacing electric and natural gas systems and equipment for milk processing, cooling, heating and other farm systems.Farmers in the counties identified by the state as storm-damaged will be eligible and will have to prove their losses were the result of the storms.
Applications are available at NYSERDA's website (http://nyserda.ny.gov) and will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis until December 15 or funding runs out. The maximum assistance will be $100,000 per farm. PD
—AP newswire report
