Stillwater farm vying for nationwide grant

Axdahl Farms in Stillwater, Minn., needs your vote.

Owners Brian and Leslie Axdahl are vying for a $28,000 grant from “Cultivating Change,” a local farm grant program offered by Greener Fields Together. Voting ends Jan. 31.

The Axdahls said they would use the money “to cover the equipment costs and labor needed for a new energy- and water-efficient irrigation well.” The Axdahls had to seal off part of their well last year and begin pulling from a different, shallower aquifer.

The new equipment will have the ability to vary the speed and amount of water drawn from the well “which will make our entire farm more efficient and environmentally sustainable,” Axdahl said.

Cultivating Change is a grant program that gives local farms funds to upgrade operations, invest in food safety and implement sustainable technology, according to its website.

Each time a distributor purchases a package from a Greener Fields Together local farm partner, 5 cents is added to the Cultivating Change fund. Distributors purchased more 1.4 million packages from Greener Fields Together farms, resulting in $75,000 in total grant awards, according to the website.

Readers wishing to vote for Axdahl Farms can do so athttp://cultivatingchange.org/vote/?entry_id=170953266, and visitors to the site can vote once per day.

Winners will be announced Feb. 5.