Bringing farmer voices to Washington, D.C.

“Agriculture shouldn’t be partisan. We all need to eat and have access to clean water and to use the soil wisely so that it can continue to be fertile for future generations.” - Allison Lakin, East Forty Farm in Waldoboro

This week, we’re in Washington, D.C. to bring farmers’ thoughts and concerns directly to Maine lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Beef cattle farmer Brendon Wormell (Wormell Farms in Cumberland) joined Policy & Research Director Shelley Megquier to share the ways in which Maine farmers rely on federal programs, their concerns about potential cuts and funding freezes, and to ask Maine's elected officials to fight for the programs that have the greatest positive impact for Maine farmers and farmland.

Congress is currently focused on nominations, budget reconciliation and other matters, and once a budget is passed, we urge action on a bipartisan Farm Bill this session. Our goal for these meetings (and continuing conversations) with Maine lawmakers is to keep Maine farmers' needs top of mind throughout the budget process and when work on the Farm Bill restarts.

A beef cattle farmer in Cumberland, Brendon serves as a member of MFT’s Farmer Advocacy Committee. In preparation for the trip, Brendon spoke with fellow farmers to get their thoughts on priority issues, and he shared with Maine’s lawmakers that farmland access and protection is the #1 issue he’s hearing. Other standout issues that he highlighted are the need for more farmland infrastructure assistance (including on leased land), funding for farmland protection programs and farmland access for new farmers, and funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).  

Before the trip, MFT also surveyed farmers to ask them what they most want politicians to know about Maine farms and their hopes for the next Farm Bill. Some overarching themes:

• Maine farmers significantly benefit from existing federal programs around soil health, water management and farmland conservation (NRCS programs like EQIP and CSP), energy efficiency (REAP), and business development grants and loans (FSA programs and VAPG). Several farmers voiced concerns that conservation program funding will be cut, that promised payments won’t be followed through on, and that cuts to federal staffing will create major delays to accessing programs.

• Farmers also spoke to the value of agricultural research and education offered through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, and expressed concerns about cuts to these important resources.

• Small- and mid-sized Maine farms (and especially the dairy sector) are facing a challenging economic landscape, with some specific concerns especially top of mind: labor shortages and potential impacts on the immigrant workforce, unpredictable climate patterns affecting crops, high costs (taxes, energy, inputs), and market conditions and subsidies that advantage large-scale commodity producers.

• Many Maine farmers want to see more funding and easier access to working capital for small/mid-scale farms to invest in their farm businesses, increase processing infrastructure, and support the conversion to climate-smart farming practices.  

As farmer Stacey Bsullak (Gathering Winds Farm & Orchard, Poland) summed it up, “Local farming is critical to our food system. During the last few years, climate conditions have been devastating to local farms. It is so important that we consider the smaller farms in policies and grants. Our U.S. funds need to set up the infrastructure that provides locally-grown and a substantial part of each state's food system.”

In addition to conveying feedback from farmers and urging Maine’s lawmakers to protect funding for the critical federal programs that Maine farmers rely on, we also shared the top priorities and specific actions we want to see included in the next Farm Bill. Click here to download our 2025 Farm Bill priorities for more detail.

We will continue to engage with Maine’s federal lawmakers to advocate for the needs of Maine’s farmers and farmland, and will provide updates when there are key opportunities to take action.

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