Bill aims to help Maine farmers diversify, reduce financial risk

File photo The head of the Maine Potato Board welcomed a bill introduced by Maine's two senators to help farmers protect their farms against financial risk.

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By Renee Cordes

Maine farmers would have better protection against financial risk under a bipartisan bill introduced by Maine’s two senators and a colleague from Connecticut.

The legislation seeks to amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act to improve education and risk management assistance. Specifically, it would reauthorize and improve two federal programs that help farmers manage financial risk through diversification, marketing, or conservation practices.

The bill would boost funding for the Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) program to $30 million, increase funding limits for farmers to $200,000 over five years, and expand eligible uses of the funds to practices from composting to introducing organic farming.

Currently, the AMA program is only available to Maine and 15 other states that have historically low rates of participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program.

“When it comes to agriculture and unpredictable weather patterns, diversification is the key to resiliency,” U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a news release. “From improving irrigation systems to implementing conservation measures to encouraging value-added processing, our bipartisan legislation would make investments that support farms for the long term. In addition to helping farmers reduce financial risk, investments in these types of projects would also help strengthen rural economies and improve food security.”

U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said, "Maine farmers work hard to produce healthy crops that will support their families and put food on the table for all our communities. The Agricultural Management Assistance Act would build on the successful AMA program to help our state’s farmers get more federal funding for the important water management and irrigation infrastructure that makes their life-nourishing work possible."

"This will mean future-proofing farms so they can better withstand erosion, pests and threats from a changing climate through a program that is tailored for states like Maine with smaller diversified agriculture," King added.

The bill's other sponsor is U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Donald Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, said his organization supports the changes to the AMA program, “which will increase resources to support Maine’s potato industry and agriculture."