Last week, MFT and ME DACF co-hosted a webinar on Agricultural Land Reclamation in the 21st Century. The webinar offered guidance and best practices for farmers, landowners, and service providers. Topics included identifying and assessing land suitability for reclamation, environmental…
Farmland and Solar Development Recently-enacted legislation encourages a significant increase in solar development in Maine on an expedited timeline. As a result, solar developers are racing to secure potential sites for solar installations, including on agricultural land near transmission infrastructure.…
This year’s devastating agricultural losses across the country from extreme weather have brought home the urgent need to address the climate crisis and its impacts on agriculture. Farmers across Maine can do a lot to build resilience to extreme weather…
In order for farms to continue to provide the economic, environmental, pastoral, recreational, and educational benefits to the state, there must be the land base to support and grow Maine’s food and agricultural economy. The Land for Maine's Future (LMF) Program is an…
In order for farms to continue to provide the economic, environmental, pastoral, recreational, and educational benefits to the state, there must be the land base to support and grow Maine’s food and agricultural economy. The Land for Maine’s Future (LMF)…
The recently released National Climate Assessment makes clear that unless global emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced, the frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves, heavy downpours, and coastal flooding in the Northeast U.S. will continue to increase. These changes…
Nutrition incentive programs in Maine like MFT’s Farm Fresh Rewards and Maine Federation of Farmers’ Market’s Maine Harvest Bucks are a win for both low-income shoppers and farmers. LD 920 would provide state funding for these programs to avoid funding gaps, leverage more federal dollars, and…
Last week, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the USDA released the 2017 Census of Agriculture. The Census is conducted every five years, and provides national, state, and county-level agricultural data that informs many federal farm programs, policies, and…
The below press release was written by the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition (NSAC). MFT is a member of NSAC, an alliance of grassroots organizations that advocates for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources,…
After several months of negotiations, the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Committee just released a final version of the bill that includes many of MFT’s priorities to better support farmers and farmland protection in Maine. Both the Senate (87-13) and the…