For our friends are the Hudson Valley Seed Library.
Seems like a pretty useful bit of subsidy.  Even if the slots are filled for the cash it's worth participating.
Dear Growers,
Greetings from the Hudson Valley Seed Library! You're receiving this e-mail because you have expressed interest at some point (as recently as yesterday, as long ago as 2008) in producing seed for the Seed Library. We hope you've had a good winter--a real one, this year!--and are looking forward to the start of the growing season.
Based on our successes and failures with the Seed Stewards Network program in past years, we have revised our program to ensure a successful and happy experience for all who choose to take part. We hope that these changes will help us create lasting partnerships with growers that can help seed production blossom in the Northeast.
The key improvements are the use of a Google Doc Spreadsheet to coordinate this year's Growout and a clear payment schedule so that growers know what to expect before getting started.
In addition, we're excited to announce that we have received a SARE grant this year to study the impact of disease on small-scale organic seed production in the Northeast!
What this means is:
- We will be working with ten farms both to produce seed and to study disease pressures on seed crops.
- The first ten growers who participate with us this year are guaranteed a $250 payment just for taking part. (This money is for a portion of your field space devoted to research--even if the crop fails, you still get this money.) This is part of the grant and reflects your willingness to allow us or Cornell representatives to collect crop samples from your field and submit them to labs for analysis as well as attend a couple free seed-production training sessions held at participating farms during the growing season.
- On top of the $250, we'll pay participating farms for successful seed crops according to a clear, fair schedule outlined in our new master google doc (see below for link).
- Unlike in past years, when our thinly-spread resources made it difficult to guide growers through the grow-out process, we now have some basic funding in place to compensate our staff and the staff at Cornell Cooperative Extension to work with participating farms on producing the highest quality seed possible.
***Please note that several of the ten slots are already taken, so please respond ASAP if you'd like to take part in the study!***
Those who reply too late to take part are still welcome to do so, but the $250 participation payment is only available for the first ten farms. (You're still welcome to attend the workshops, and we'll still pay you for your seed according to the same schedule, but we unfortunately have a fixed amount of money available to spend on the participation payment.)
We sincerely hope that you'll consider stewarding a seed crop on your farm this season. Please checkout the Google Doc to learn more about this year's program by clicking on the link below. Once you've thought it through, please respond to [email protected] with your interest and available row feet, and we can enter you in the spreadsheet for a variety or two.
***Even if I've heard from you before, please respond and confirm with your desired crops after looking at the Google Doc. Thank you!!!***

Doug Muller
Hudson Valley Seed Library