By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com;
Photo by James Ahlberg on Unsplash
Closing on January 13, 2023, the Sustainable New Agri-food Products and Productivity (SNAPP) Program is specifically designed to promote northern Ontario agriculture and food producers and businesses.
The program will provide up to $10,000 at 50 percent cost-share towards the purchase of equipment and/or materials that will:
- result in the creation of innovative food or agricultural products new to the business;
- enhance productivity and/or improve efficiency or resource use through innovation in the process or technology to improve products or processes, or;
- reduce ecological impact and carbon footprint through innovation in the process or technology while enhancing profitability.
So – just what are they looking for?
Eligible SNAPP projects could be:
New Products – Projects that enable agriculture or food producers to create primary or processed products that are new to the business and foster innovation while increasing competitive advantage. Examples of potentially eligible projects include:
- Processing equipment (mixers, sterilizers, wash, and pack systems, etc.) for the creation of innovative value-added products to expand to new consumer markets and meet demand.
- Packaging equipment (vacuum sealers, bottling equipment, labelers, etc.) to enable expansion of new production lines and increase distribution.
Productivity Enhancement – Projects that utilize innovative technologies or processes to increase efficiencies in their operations and improve processes or products. Examples of potentially eligible projects include:
- Innovative pest or predator management to increase efficiency and better control crop production.
- Precision agriculture technologies to meet management objectives and increase overall sales.
- LED lighting for hydroponic growing to increase productivity of year-round produce.
Clean Growth in Agri-Food – Projects that adopt clean technology at the farm/business level and support improved environmental performance while fostering productivity, growth and competitiveness. Eligible projects must demonstrate how the project will grow the business in a way that benefits the environment or lessens the impact on the environment through technology adoption. Projects that can quantify these positive and negative impacts will be prioritized.
Examples of potentially eligible projects include:
- Irrigation or rainwater harvesting system to increase productivity and improve drought resilience;
- Minimal or no-till equipment to improve crop productivity and increase environmental benefit;
- Passive solar greenhouse system to increase year-round production and reduce energy use.
Funding:
- Up to $10,000 at 50 percent cost-share for individual applicants.
- Up to $25,000 at 50 percent cost-share for collaborations of three or more.
More information can be found here.