Buckle up – this is a long one! There’s a lot on the table for farms in this Legislative session, and we want to share an overview of the bills we’re tracking and where we’ll be focusing our advocacy efforts. There’s a lot to take in, but don’t worry – you’ll be hearing more from us as these bills move through the legislative process. Sign up to receive action alerts with policy updates and key opportunities to use your voice. Your support can make a difference in whether these policy priorities make it to the finish line or fall short. Are you a farmer interested in policy change? Share your priorities with us and get involved.
Maine’s 132nd Legislature has been welcomed to the halls of the Statehouse in Augusta and the First Regular Session is getting up and running. Working alongside farmers, Maine Farmland Trust is in Augusta every week advocating for a political environment that protects farmland as a finite natural resource, supports farmers as business owners and stewards of the land, and advances a vibrant future for agriculture in our state.
Below are our state-level policy priorities, with a brief description of some specific legislative opportunities that we’ll be especially focused on this session:
1.) Protect farmland from development
2.) Help farm businesses thrive
3.) Advance equitable access to agricultural land and resources for all farmers
If you’re curious to dig deeper into any of these focus areas, keep on scrolling! If you’re satisfied with the short version for now, don’t forget to sign up for policy updates and action alerts to stay in the loop as the Legislative session progresses.
Protecting farmland is critical for ensuring we have the land base needed to grow our agricultural economy and strengthen food security for our communities, state, and region. Less than 5 percent of farmland in Maine is permanently protected – this is the lowest amount of any state in New England, and the 2022 Census of Agriculture showed that between 2017 and 2022, more than 82,000 acres of farmland in Maine fell out of agricultural production.
Here is more detail on some of the specific legislative opportunities that we’ll be especially focused on this session:
The state’s updated 2024 climate action plan Maine Won’t Wait establishes new targets specific to farmland protection – calling for Maine to secure and commit ongoing, dedicated funding for farmland conservation to double the amount of permanently protected farmland in the state by 2030 and ensure no net loss of farmland in Maine. In order to realize this goal, we need to meet the rapid growth in development pressure across the state with an equally rapid expansion of our farmland protection efforts, especially publicly funded farmland protection.
MFT is supporting An Act to Support Farmland Conservation sponsored by Senator Bennett which includes dedicated funding for farmland conservation as well as adequate staffing and the creation of an account within Maine’s Working Farmland Access and Protection Program to strengthen the program’s ability to conserve Maine’s farmland.
Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) is Maine’s primary public funding vehicle for land conservation. Establishing durable funding for existing and new land conservation programs, including the Land for Maine’s Future program, is also a strategy included within Maine Won’t Wait for meeting the plan’s goal of increasing the total acreage of conserved natural and working lands in the state to 30 percent by 2030.
MFT will be supporting efforts to secure ongoing funding for LMF through a bond measure, An Act to Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue to Replenish the Land for Maine's Future Program sponsored by Senator Black, as well as through other sources and creative strategies.
Low-density residential development patterns can fragment the agricultural land base and limit both the production options for an area’s remaining working farms and future opportunities for new farmers to access the land they need to establish and grow their operations. It is essential that we address Maine’s housing crisis in ways that encourage development in downtowns and villages while protecting natural and working lands.
MFT is tracking various legislative efforts that seek to advance land use and other policy strategies that balance growth and the need for increased housing in Maine with the need to protect our state’s working farms and critical agricultural resources.
In 2023, the Maine Legislature passed LD 1881. MFT strongly supported this bill based on the understanding that Maine’s best farmland is a limited resource and should be prioritized for current and future agricultural production. LD 1881 creates a permitting process where one didn’t exist before and a mitigation fee program in which companies must pay a fee for solar installations of over 20 acres on high-value agricultural land. Mitigation fees are then used for farmland conservation.
MFT has been engaging in the rulemaking process for LD 1881 and will continue to advocate for the important layers of protection that this legislation provides for Maine’s best farmland in the face of solar development pressure as the rules are finalized and reported back to the Legislature.
The viability of farming as a business is paramount to the future of farming in Maine. Thriving farm businesses support farm families, farm workers, and rural economies across the state. Maine farmers need a political environment that supports them as they grow their operations, compete in new markets, and transfer farm businesses to the next generation.
Here is more detail on some of the specific legislative opportunities that we’ll be especially focused on this session:
MFT is increasingly hearing from the farmers that we work with about the impact of rising property tax costs on farm viability. The costs of rising property taxes, especially alongside other increasing costs of production, can affect the bottom line for farms across the state, challenge farmers’ ability to keep their land in active agriculture, and increase pressure on farmers to sell portions of their land for development. The state’s VMFSP provides an optional mechanism for municipalities to provide property tax support (beyond reductions available through the state’s Current Use Tax Program) to local farmers while simultaneously protecting farmland. However, this program is underutilized in Maine.
MFT is supporting An Act to Strengthen the Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program sponsored by Senator Tipping which seeks to expand the VMFSP’s reach and impact by amending the program’s statutory requirements in ways that would make the program more flexible for towns and more appealing for farmers.
Expanded agricultural infrastructure in Maine is critical to helping farmers grow and diversify their businesses and to supporting local and regional supply chain development. Expanded processing and distribution infrastructure for Maine farms and food producers is an important strategy included in Maine Won’t Wait in order to reach the plan’s goal of increasing the amount of food consumed in Maine from state food producers to 30 percent by 2030.
MFT will continue advocating alongside partners, farmers and others in the state’s agricultural industry for funding for the Maine Agriculture, Food and Forest Products Investment Fund, which would provide an important source of support for much-needed agricultural infrastructure development. This session there will be an effort to get a comprehensive agriculture bond passed that includes investment in this Fund and that MFT will support.
The economic viability of Maine dairy farms allows for vast acres of farmland across the state to stay in agriculture, contributes to the strength of our entire agricultural sector, and supports the vitality of rural communities. Last legislative session, MFT advocated in coalition with farmers and partners across Maine’s agricultural sector to secure support for Maine’s dairy farmers as they face rising costs of production that go far above the market prices for milk. The last Legislature approved a 25 percent increase to payments for dairy farmers who participate in the Maine Dairy Stabilization or ‘Tier Program,’ plus $7 million in one-time relief funding, and also established a task force to provide recommendations on potential investments and policies to support the long-term sustainability and resiliency of Maine’s dairy sector.
MFT will advocate in support of the recommendations coming out of the Dairy Task Force, including its top recommendation that the Tier Program be fully funded.
Farm workers are a critical part of Maine farms and important contributors to our agricultural economy. Last legislative session MFT supported a bill that would have required a state minimum wage for agricultural workers, but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Mills. A guaranteed state minimum wage would provide an important layer of legal protection for farm workers, and given that most farm businesses already offer at least the state minimum wage, this requirement would importantly not create undue economic hardship for our valued farm businesses across the state.
MFT is tracking and will likely support minimum wage legislation this session but does not support the removal of the overtime pay exemption for agricultural workers until further investigation can be completed on the impacts of a new overtime pay requirement on different agriculture industries.
Maine farmers are needing to adapt to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, including excessive precipitation and drought. Securing ongoing funding for the Maine Healthy Soils Program and the Maine Drought Relief Program will help equip farmers with the tools and resources they need to become more resilient to climate change impacts and support their ability to run viable businesses in these unpredictable conditions.
MFT will advocate for robust funding allocations for both of these programs in the biennial budget as well as through a forthcoming bond proposal.
We support public policy change in Maine that will increase access to land and ensure fair distribution of available agricultural resources.
Here is more detail on some of the specific legislative opportunities that we’ll be especially focused on this session:
Maine farmers need public policies and programs that support them as they seek to grow and improve their businesses. Maine’s Farms for the Future Program is a competitive grant program that provides business planning assistance and investment support to farms. There is an opportunity to make changes to the eligibility requirements for this important grant and loan program in order to make it accessible for more farmers.
MFT is supporting An Act to Improve Access to Farms for the Future Grant Funding sponsored by Representative Osher, which seeks to ensure that farmers who lease rather than own land and those who farm on land that is already protected by a conservation easement are able to fully participate in the Farms for the Future Program. The bill also increases the maximum allowable amounts for grants and agricultural marketing loans awarded through the Program to keep pace with inflation.
The Wabanaki peoples were the first stewards of the land that is now Maine and continue to steward land here today. MFT recognizes that Wabanaki land-based knowledge and practices and the ancestral, reciprocal relationship that Wabanaki communities share with land are critical to our mission to protect farmland, support farmers, and advance the future of farming. Restoring the inherent rights of Wabanaki Tribes to self-govern would help to honor and uplift the abilities of the Wabanaki Nations to access and steward land and natural resources and would strengthen the capacity of the Wabanaki Nations to create greater economic opportunities for both the Tribes and surrounding non-tribal communities of rural Maine.
MFT will again voice support for tribal sovereignty legislation this session, especially An Act to Enact the Remaining Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act sponsored by Senator Talbot Ross.
Enabling and encouraging food production in the heart of Maine’s cities and towns can be a great way to support local food access and food security projects, as well as the agricultural activities of smaller-scale producers and producers who lack access to land or do not own property.
MFT is tracking An Act to Create Urban Agricultural Incentive Zones, sponsored by Representative Pluecker, which seeks to incentivize the use of undeveloped land for small-scale agricultural activities and food production so that urban agriculture can become more common in communities across Maine.
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Are you a farmer interested in joining MFT to create policy change? Share your priorities and get involved.
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