Farmers will discuss USDA programs at agricultural trade show in Augusta
File Photo / Russ Dillingham
The owner of Goranson Farm in Dresden will be a panelist at an upcoming agriculture trade show. Seen here in 2015, Jan Goranson waters pea shoots.
The owners of three Maine farms were tapped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to offer insights into their operations during the Maine Agricultural Trades Show.
The farmer panel is scheduled for the show’s opening day, Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 10 a.m. at the Augusta Civic Center.
The goal of the panel is to help dispel confusion and inspire more farmers to get to know local USDA staff, as they navigate the planning and partnerships needed to grow and sustain a farm.
The USDA offers farm producers technical assistance and funding.
The panel includes Carl Johanson of Goranson Farm in the Lincoln County town of Dresden. The certified organic family farm produces food using environmentally sustainable farming practices. Products are available year-round at the farm store, farmers' markets, a community-supported agriculture program, and independent grocers and health food stores throughout the midcoast.
The farm has worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service on an environmental quality incentives program and agricultural management assistance program. The farm has also participated in USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program.
Everett Ottinger is with Nettie Fox Farm in the Penobscot County town of Newburgh. Founded in 2009, Ottinger and Molly Crouse devote three the farm's 33 acres to MOFGA-certified organic vegetable production. The produce is available via an annual community supported agriculture program and at the Bangor Farmers’ Market. Recently, the farm benefitted from Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program.
Pheonix and Megan O’Brien own and operate Hall Brook Farm in the Waldo County town of Thorndike. They founded the certified organic, commercial-scale vegetable farm in 2014 and grow 20 acres of produce in the field and two-thirds of an acre in greenhouses, marketing to grocery stores from the midcoast down to eastern Massachusetts. The farm specializes in select vegetable crops to maintain the highest quality possible, increase efficiency, and meet market demand. Hall Brook Farm has worked with the Farm Service Agency and received a REAP grant.
The panelists will discuss how they have leveraged various USDA programs to grow their businesses, working with local USDA staff to leverage expertise, training and funding opportunities. They will offer examples of how farmers can incorporate specialized federal programs as part of their farm business planning.
The discussion and audience questions will be facilitated by Rhiannon Hampson, USDA Rural Development’s state director; Lucia Brown, Farm Service Agency’s deputy executive director; and Matt Walker, Natural Resources Conservation Service’s state conservationist.
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