Anticipating farm labor shortages, Maine ad campaign targets newly unemployed

Courtesy / Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry State agencies and farm associations have joined forces to fill agricultural labor voids in response to the pandemic.

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By Staff

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Department of Labor have teamed up with the Wild Blueberry Commission, Maine Dairy Industry Association and Maine Aquaculture Association to introduce FarmingForME (#FarmingForME), an agricultural labor awareness campaign.

The initiative responds to the COVID-19 pandemic and to longstanding agricultural labor supply problems, according to a news release. The campaign seeks to fill possible agricultural labor voids with workers from within the state, providing seasonal employment to the recently unemployed and allowing Maine's food production to continue full steam ahead.

“As the production season approaches, we are hearing from farmers that some out-of-state skilled workers they have relied upon for decades won’t be making the trip this year,” Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission, said in the release. “We launched this campaign to ensure farmers will have the workforce needed to continue growing and harvesting this season.”

The department developed social media materials to help generate public interest for the initiative.

The FarmingForME campaign began June 3 and includes emails, social media marketing and graphic materials to create word-of-mouth awareness.

Materials can be found here.

“Our agricultural community has long faced challenges in finding available labor,” Nancy McBrady, director of the bureau of agriculture, said in the release. “Our hope with FarmingForME is to reach employers and attract needed workers throughout Maine.”

The initiative encourages employers and job-seekers to take advantage of the free use of the Maine JobLink platform, a web-based job-matching and labor market information system.

Agricultural employers can freely post and manage job listings on the platform, review applicant profiles, save searches and resumes, and get hiring notifications. Job seekers can discover these essential positions, create profiles, be notified of job matches, and access training and educational resources.

Employers and job seekers can also leverage DACF’s Farm Labor Link Network, a dynamic site that includes hiring incentive programs, job posting guidance, job search guidance, career placement services, legal resources and more.