Maine Grain Alliance to pilot post-harvest innovations with $97K grant

Courtesy / Maine Grain Alliance A $97,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute will help purchase equipment like this for sorting grain at six Maine farms.

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By Staff

The Maine Grain Alliance has received a $97,000 grant from the Maine Technology Institute to help the state’s farms improve the way they handle their grain crop after harvest.

The funds, which will be matched by the alliance, will purchase equipment and infrastructure not widely used in Maine for cleaning, drying, sorting and storing grain, according to a news release Friday. Six farms will use the technology in a demonstration during the 2020 growing season, and the alliance hopes other farms will learn from them.

The goal is to expand the production of more valuable grains.

“The ability to handle and finish grain to meet top quality standards is critical on farms. This project will purchase equipment and demonstrate its best uses,” said Tristan Noyes, executive director of the Maine Grain Alliance. “We hope to alleviate a critical bottleneck in Maine's grain economy.“

The project builds upon a 2017 feasibility study that examined barriers in post-harvest grain handling and possible on-farm solutions.

A report will be published detailing the results of the project near the end of 2020.

MTI, which is based at Brunswick Landing, has also invested in other post-harvest infrastructure, including processing plants for Maine-caught lobsters.