Maine Street Bath is updating its annual Downtown Flowers program to support bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Heliotrope will offer sustenance to the creatures, which play a vital role in local ecosystems and agriculture.
agriculture
Lawmakers consider $100 million relief fund for farmers with contaminated land
The fund would reimburse farmers whose water or fields are contaminated by PFAS for testing and clean up, lost crops and herds, farm transitions or buyouts, and long-term health monitoring.
Relief fund created to help Maine farmers deal with forever chemicals
Maine Farmland Trust and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association have raised $255,000 to create a short-term financial safety net for those affected by PFAS.
Farmers urge passage of bill to stop agricultural use of PFAS-laden sludge
One says at a news conference Wednesday that his family is ‘teetering on the edge of losing everything’ because of PFAS contamination.
Rep. Pingree’s bill aims to help Maine hemp growers
Maine’s struggling hemp industry would benefit from relaxed rules on potency limits.
New farm-based training course takes aim at two local issues
A pilot program from Merrymeeting Food Council and several partner organizations will try to address a labor shortage on Maine farms while helping low-income workers find steady jobs.
Federal watchdog say Trump administration overpaid corn farmers by $3 billion
A federal watchdog says the Trump administration overpaid corn farmers by about $3 billion in federal aid in 2019 and that farmers in the South were paid more for the same crops than elsewhere in the country
Maine to expand mental health help for farmers
Farmers in Maine and beyond have had to contend with the coronavirus pandemic, droughts and supply chain difficulties in recent months and years.
Maine potato harvesters are having a good year
After a below-average yield in 2020, farmers are reporting a crop that is larger than average in 2021.
Maine to investigate more than 500 sludge sites for contamination by ‘forever chemicals’
With $30 million in state funding, officials plan an unprecedented effort to test sites statewide for chemicals known as PFAS and assist people affected by the pollution.