Using social media can be a valuable and cost effective way to drive business for your farm— join this workshop on January 25th to pick up some communications tips and have an opportunity to ask questions regarding your farm's online presence. During this workshop, Bilal Sarwari will invite you to consider general guidelines when building out your farm's social media presence while prioritizing your time and emotional health. Bilal is an advocate for farmers and ranchers who believes in centering human health in agriculture. He has worked as a therapeutic gardener at a psychiatric health clinic, an organic vegetable farmer in the Deep South, and a communications manager for an agricultural nonprofit.

Farmers can register here.

The Maine Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry (DACF) knows the Agricultural Trades Show (ATS) is an annual chance to catch up and connect. After listening to concerns raised by our industry's stakeholders and carefully assessing potential risks to public health amid a sustained surge of COVID-19, we are announcing today that the 2022 ATS will be held online instead of in-person the week of January 10, 2022. In the coming days, we will share details of the new online event, including the anticipated schedule and information on how content will be made available. The Department looks forward to promoting participants and fostering a robust online community celebrating Maine agriculture over the course of the virtual event, January 10-14, 2022.

Visit the Maine Agricultural Trades Show Webpage for show news and ways to connect.

The New England Farmer Microgrants Program is a small grants program designed to provide direct financial assistance to farmers in the region. Funds will be dedicated towards projects anywhere in New England that support land access, bringing more farmland into production, or planning for the future of the farm.

We’ll be making awards of up to $5,000 per grant.

They will award about 100 grants in 2022. The majority (~80) of the grants will be directed towards soil health and regenerative ag practices specifically for livestock producers within specific counties (map below). The remainder will be awarded across a variety of applicants from anywhere in New England seeking financial assistance with farmland access, planning for the future of their farms, or bringing more land into production. There are examples of eligible project types on on their website.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is now accepting applications for the Journeyperson program, a 2 year program designed to help Maine farmers overcome barriers in their first few years of business.

Learn more about the program on the MOFGA website. Applications are due January 31st, 2022.

Please contact Bo Dennis, Beginning Farmer Programs Specialist, at [email protected] with any questions.

DACF will also develop a digital library to offer lectures, workshops, and educational content for Maine specialty crop producers and develop a PSA campaign to promote the sale of Maine specialty crop fruits and vegetables across New England. Find more information about current and past SCBG projects on the DACF webpage.

The Poultry, Swine, and Beef live sessions of the Winter Care of Livestock Series that were planned for December and January at the Cumberland County Extension Office have been canceled.

Watch for registration for the Winter Care of Equines and Winter Care of Camelid programs that will be offered virtually February 1st and 15th at noon.

My name is Izzy Ruffin, and I am currently writing a research paper for a Mediation: Premise, Practice and Policy class on the cumulative impact of stress on Maine farmers and how the impact of that stress can and should be addressed. This short anonymous survey, intended for farmers, will take no more than 5 minutes.

The results of this survey will serve as supplemental evidence to substantial research on stress and stress management in the field of agriculture and point to existing resources that are already available for free to Maine farmers through organizations like the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. With any hope, the paper will be officially published by the University of Maine in the Spring. 

You can find the link to the survey here. Feel free to share it with other farmers you know. Thank you for your time!

American Farm Bureau Foundation announced 'American Farm Trail,' a new agritourism app that will showcase agritourism operations and tours. Developers are looking for agritourism stops to add to the app. Farms and attractions can create their own free profile showcasing their operation, history, products, and more.

The Farmer Equity National Assessment Project is seeking to better understand the needs and challenges of Farmers of Color and to highlight farmers' barriers, constraints, and innovations through storytelling. If you are willing, please complete a survey by December 15, 2021, to be entered on a list of farmers to potentially serve as case studies. The project will hand-select 50 farmers for the case studies, and farmers who are selected will receive a $500 stipend.