St. Lawrence County residents can apply for a grant from a $12 million fund set up to make New York’s farms cleaner and safer.

Funding is provided through county Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the state from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.

What is called nonpoint pollution from agricultural runoff has the potential to enter water bodies. The funding is aimed at helping farmers work with county Soil and Water Conservation Districts to prevent such pollution from occurring by employing soil erosion prevention methods, planting vegetation along streams to prevent runoff, adopting nutrient management systems, and planting cover crops after the annual harvest to protect the soil.

Grants will be administered by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets and the New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee.

There is a deadline of March 31 to apply for grants through Round 20 AgNPS Program RFP for County Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Information is available on the Department of Agriculture and Markets website, http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/RFPS.html. All materials must be submitted by March 31, for the application to be considered complete.

For additional details in St. Lawrence County, contact the Soil and Water Conservation District, 1942 Old DeKalb Rd., Canton, 386-3582/2401, Ext. 3, fax 386-1740, email conservation@slcswcd.org, web site www.slcswcd.org.