Looking back at a year in farmland protection: 2024

Maine farmland accounts for 33% of all the farmland in New England, but Maine lost 564 farms and 82,567 acres of farmland between the U.S. Census of Agriculture in 2017 and most recent one in 2022. One of the tools we at MFT use to keep farmland available and more affordable is through an agricultural conservation easement, a deed process that legally protects working farmland from non-agricultural development, even after it changes hands. While easements are a widely recognized structure by many conservation organizations and land trusts, they are just one of many important pathways to preserving farmland. These goals can be achieved in other valuable ways such as through farm succession planning, farm business support, and working with indigenous communities to return land to their stewardship (see our recent blog to read about one such project, led by Niweskok).

Thanks to the farmers and landowners who are invested and passionate about the future of farmland, partnering land trusts, and our community of supporters, in 2024 we protected 1,720+ acres of farmland in Maine for agricultural use well into the future, spanning 7 of the 16 counties.

Here are some of the farmland protection projects we celebrated in 2024:‍

Aroostook County

PAL Livestock, Merrill

420 acres protected

• Farmer Andy LeMaistre raises beef cattle, with 190 acres of open fields used for pasture and hay with views of Katahdin and the surrounding hills. Andy has listed the farm for sale on FarmLink as he continues to plan for its future.

‍

‍

Hancock County

Tranquility Acres, Bucksport

81 acres protected

• Pat and Sue Landry have been working to restore and improve the farm’s fields, soils, and water resources for 30 years. Home to their pasture beef operation, the farm has capacity for a whole host of agricultural uses in the future.

‍

‍

Kennebec County

Milliken Field, Albion

39 acres protected

• Having already protected his home farm nearby, hay farmer Rob Milliken worked with us to ensure that this satellite hayfield with very rich agricultural soils will remain available to working farmers, with an OPAV included in the easement.

Sadie Dunn Farm, Mount Vernon

101 acres protected

• Donated to MFT by the estate of Dan Sorensen, his family worked with us to fulfill Dan’s wish to protect the farm, which features 27 acres of open land underlain by agricultural soils capable of supporting a wide variety of agricultural use.

‍

Lincoln County

Robbins Property, Whitefield

110 acres protected

• Farmed continuously for the last 100+ years, the Robbins family kept a small herd of cattle and sold market vegetables for decades, and now its fields are hayed by a local livestock farmer. With an OPAV to help ensure it stays in the hands of working farmers, the farm will remain an agricultural resource for the community.

Sheepscot Valley Farm, Whitefield

64 acres protected

• Organic dairy farmers Annie Watson & Mike Moody worked with us to protect their home farm, where their dairy infrastructure and milking take place. Within a 5-mile radius of this property, there are 11 protected farm properties spanning 1,151 acres, all in partnership with MFT.

‍

Penobscot County

Fern Family Farm, Dexter

106 acres protected

• The farm (pictured at the top), just 5 minutes from downtown Dexter with frontage on Echo Lake, has been in the family for 3 generations, at one time growing corn, beans, and peas to supply a local canning facility. Bruce Fern and his daughter Marcia own the farm together, and feel strongly that it should remain available for farming into the future.

Katahdin View Farm, Hampden

123 acres protected

• In the family for generations, Janice Von Brook and her late husband George Miller raised Charolais beef cattle on the farm, just minutes from Bangor. As development has swelled around them, Janice and her daughter Carol Lamb are ensuring the farm will always stay a farm with the easement and OPAV.

‍

Somerset County

Martin Family Farms, St. Albans & Palmyra

403 acres protected

• Three generations of the Martin family have raised dairy and now beef cattle, and produced hay, corn, and silage. With development encroaching nearby, Jeff Martin worked with us to protect the farm for agriculture, while helping to enable his son Wyatt to join the business full-time.

‍

‍

York County

Chellis Brook Farm, Newfield

47 acres protected (addition to the existing 230-acre easement, protected in 2017)

• With a majority of this wooded parcel underlain by valuable agricultural soils, Denise Carpenter has been re-establishing fields for forage to help sustain her beef cattle operation - and support the viability of other farming operations in the future.

‍

‍

Many more seeds for future farmland protection projects were planted in 2024, which we are excited to see come to fruition in 2025 and beyond. We look forward to celebrating them with you as we look ahead to the work already underway early this year.

If you’re interested in learning more about the easement process or are a farmer looking to put an easement on your property, click here.

Or if you are looking for alternative routes for accessing farmland and other farming opportunities, check out our linking service Maine Farmlink.