I read with interest today’s Portland Press Herald editorial, “Census Shows Trouble Facing Maine Farms”.

I agree with the thrust of the editorial, but would note that Land Conservation Assistance Network (LandCAN) is the only organization in Maine helping farmers 24/7, 365 days a year with a full menu of federal, state, non-profit and for-profit service providers.  Although the Portland Press Herald hasn’t referenced our work, the Maine LandCAN  (www.mainelandcan.org) has been on line serving Maine’s farming community for the past 16 years.

Several points raised in the article bear reference to specific programs we host.  For example:

“Maine lost 10 percent of its farming acreage, one of the five worst declines nationwide… a net loss of 563 farms.”  We provide listings for all land trusts in Maine, including Maine Farmland Trust referenced in the article, as well as all the federal and state assistance and funding programs for farmers. We promote agri-tourism on Maine farms, and we offer listings all the CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) in Maine which underpin the farm-to-table market. In total, we list 3,354 Farm resources on Maine LandCAN, which is free and requires no log in.

The editorial references the fact that “the number (of farmers) 65 and older went up by a third.” We host 822 tax and estate attorneys in Maine to help farmers with inter-generational transfer and the new federal conservation easement law which provides a potential tax saving and income preservation for farmers.

Our Maine site is averaging over 1,000 visitors per month.

Amos S. Eno, Executive Director

Land Conservation Assistance Network

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