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Going Back to the Land Spurs Interest in Locally Grown Food and Agricultural

January 28, 2009 - HIRAM -- Joe Grady teaches humanities at Casco Bay High School in Portland, but he is a farmer at heart.

The former manager of a 130-acre farm in Rindge, N.H., Grady and his wife, Laura, continue to graze sheep, keep chickens and raise vegetables on the side at their small farm in Hiram. But Grady is itching to farm in a bigger way.

So he joined Maine Farmlink, a service operated by the Maine Farmland Trust that matches people who want to farm with farms available for sale or lease. He and his wife now have their eye on a Hallowell farm that is available for lease.

"Our goal would be to have as large a percentage of our income come from the farm as possible," said Grady.

Grady is one of 200 people in the Farmlink database searching for a farm to buy or rent. It is just one sign of the growing interest in farming in Maine that, in turn, is helping to fuel a surge of interest in preserving farmland in the state.

Farm preservationists say farmland protection also is gaining steam because of the growing demand for locally grown foods.

Today, the decades-old loss of farmland to development has finally begun to reverse.

Despite the economic meltdown, Maine Farmland Trust, the largest private land trust exclusively devoted to farms, has just had its best year ever. In the past year, its assets grew from $170,000 to $1 million, membership jumped from 844 to 1,608 and the number of acres that the organization protected more than doubled, from 6,221 to 13,079.

"It is a hot topic," said John Piotti, executive director of the 10-year-old land trust.

The number of acres protected by all of the state's private land trusts rose from 19,463 acres in March 2006 to 31,286 acres by the end of last year, according to a survey by Maine Farmland Trust.

He said that while farming was considered a dying industry 20 years ago, there has been a quiet but steady increase in farming in Maine since then.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of full-time farmers grew by 2.5 percent to 3,409 between 1997 and 2002, and the number of part-time farmers remained steady at 7,100 between 1998 and 2007. The acres of farmland rose 5.4 percent to 1.36 million acres between 1998 and 2007.

The growing interest in farmland preservation comes at a critical time for Maine agriculture. In the next decade, 400,000 acres of rural land is likely to change hands, because of the aging of the population of farmers and rural landowners in Maine, according to Maine Farmland Trust.

Piotti said the Farmlink database managed to match 37 farmers to farms, more than any other of the dozen similar programs nationwide.

"These are not crazy romantics," said Piotti of the people who are looking for farms in Maine. He said they are serious, experienced farmers who understand that farming is hard work.

They are people such as Ray and Tina Nichols, who bought 200 acres of protected farmland in Auburn for $404,000 from Maine Farmland Trust in December 2007. Today, the couple runs the Oakwood Equestrian Center, a horse farm and stable with 20 horses and a riding school.

The farm includes 70 acres of fields, a major asset during the current national hay shortage.

"Luckily for us, we produce our own hay," said Nichols.

Other groups working to conserve farmland also are seeing success. The Land for Maine's Future, a statewide program, has protected 7,551 acres of farmland, with another 10 projects that would preserve another 1,639 acres under way.

And there are a growing number of local groups forming to protect agricultural land, such as the Cape Elizabeth Farm Alliance.

The town of Bowdoinham has made agriculture the focus of its economic strategy, while the Unity Barn Raisers, a community betterment program, works to promote the town's agricultural assets.

Despite the economic recession, Piotti says he sees no drop in interest or donations at Maine Farmland Trust in recent months.

He said his organization has been exploring the feasibility of launching a major campaign to raise $3 million to $5 million in the next 10 years.

During the autumn, as the financial crisis raged and Wall Street melted down, a consulting firm contacted potential donors to gauge the climate for fundraising for farm conservation in the state. The results were encouraging, said Piotti.

"This is not wild-eyed optimism. I am very confident there is going to be ongoing support," Piotti said.

Grady also sees a bright future for agriculture in Maine because of the support from land trusts and agricultural organizations such as the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

He said consumers are beginning to think about farming in a new light.

"They have 'their doctor' or 'their dentist' or 'their mechanic.' They are starting to think along the lines of this is 'my farmer,' too," he said.

By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 25, 2009


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Regions: Sebago, Sanford, Bangor, Mid Coast


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