Julie Kushner

Sen. Kushner Welcomes Agriculture Grant for Hollandia Nursery in Bethel

BETHEL – State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) and state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt announced today that the Connecticut Department of Agriculture has awarded funds for 33 projects – including a project in Bethel – totaling $516,000 to strengthen the economic viability of Connecticut farmers and of agricultural cooperatives that are seeking to expand, diversify, or improve their existing operation.

Hollandia Nurseries in Bethel will receive a Farm Transition Grant to help purchase and install irrigation systems in five greenhouses. Hollandia Nurseries was founded in a 2-car garage in 1964 and now covers more than 20 acres on Stony Hill Road.

“Connecticut may be known as the insurance capital of the world, and as a defense manufacturing powerhouse, but we are also home to thousands of farms that contribute more than $4 billion annually to our state economy,” Sen. Kushner said. “Hollandia Nurseries has been a part of that Connecticut farm economy for more than half a century and I’m happy to see them benefit from this state investment in our farms and open spaces.”

The Farm Transition Grant Program was created in 2005 and was passed in the legislature on a unanimous and bipartisan basis. Ongoing funding for this competitive, matching grant program is provided through Public Act 05-228, “An Act Concerning Farmland Preservation, Land Protection, Affordable Housing, and Historic Preservation.” Grant funds are reimbursed to the farm after the project is successfully completed, a final financial and written report outlining all of the expenses and tasks associated with the project have been received and approved, and a site inspection by agency staff is conducted.

“Now in our second grant cycle of offering the four Farm Transition Grant categories, we are encouraged by the response with a wider variety of projects seeking funding from a more diverse spectrum of Connecticut producers,” said Commissioner Hurlburt said. “We look forward to sharing success stories from each of these projects in the future to showcase the innovation and growth of agriculture in Connecticut and the positive impacts it has for our state’s economy, job growth, and food production.”