The Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network – Northeast (FRSAN-NE) is a community of service providers across the Northeast region working to better support farmers through stress and connect them with stress assistance programs. A cohort of Maine service providers in the FRSAN-NE are focused on alleviating farmer stress related to potential PFAS contamination with the Maine PFAS Testing Pilot Project. 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances () are man-made chemicals that are stable and persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative, toxic at low concentrations, and easily transferred to groundwater and other media. For this testing pilot program, farmers can apply for funding to work with consultants from Northern Tilth to proactively assess their feed, soil, or water for contamination with these chemicals and work with a team to provide guidance on management decisions going forward. Please note that only farms or fields that are known or are/were licensed to have had biosolids or regulated residuals spread, are eligible.

Participants will be asked to provide anonymous feedback about the effectiveness of this program in alleviating stress related to possible PFAS contamination. 

Additional information and application is available here. Please apply by Friday, September 10th. You may contact Rick Kersbergen at UMaine Extension with questions (richard.kersbergen@maine.edu). Funding is limited, so only a few farms will be accepted into this round of funding.

 This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) project