Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) are offering emergency grants to assist farmers impacted by the current COVID-19 crisis, including those who have experienced sales losses, increased expenses and/or other challenges during 2020, and who anticipate needing to make Read More »
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Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 for Specialty Crop Producers
Don’t miss a “beet” and apply for USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) by December 11, 2020, through your local USDA Farm Service Agency. More than 230 fruit, vegetable, horticulture, and tree nut commodities are eligible for CFAP 2, along with honey, maple sap, Read More »
The Organic Sprout – Fall 2020 Issue
The Fall 2020 issue of The Organic Sprout is here! You can access it and view or download a PDF from this link: https://indd.adobe.com/view/fa6c0648-c7ce-4e2f-83cf-633c72a4a0e9/ Contents include the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) Rule, the 2020 drought variance, using mediation to prevent a crisis, NOP updates and much Read More »
Maine to Use Pandemic CARES Act Funding to Support Farmers, Agriculture Producers who Invested in E-commerce
AUGUSTA – Nov 17, 2020. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) will use federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to support farmers and agricultural producers impacted by COVID-19, DACF Commissioner Amanda Beal announced today. “Adapting and meeting the challenges Read More »
Emergency Drought Assistance
Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, and Washington Counties are eligible for emergency drought assistance from the Farm Service Agency For drought assistance, start by contacting your local USDA Farm Service Center. Farmers in Maine’s eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration, Read More »
USDA Supports Specialty Crops Producers with Direct Payments for Losses Due to COVID-19
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2020 – As part of the Coronavirus Farm Assistance Program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it will provide up to $2.1 billion in direct payments to specialty crops producers. The payments will be based on losses where prices and Read More »
Interim Guidance for Essential Agriculture Businesses
The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has developed interim guidelines to help answer owner and employee questions about essential agriculture, horticulture, and animal care operations. The department’s website, containing a broad range of COVID-19 resources, is available here: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/covid19/ and includes a wealth of Read More »
Farmers’ Guide to Applying for the USDA Value-Added Producer Grant Program
The National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition (NSAC) has published a comprehensive guide for the 2019-2020 Grant Cycle. Program Basics The Value-Added Producer Grant program (VAPG), a subprogram of the Local Agriculture Market program (LAMP), provides grants, awarded on a competitive basis, to individual independent agricultural producers, Read More »