By Heather Spalding, MOFGA Deputy Director Before summarizing the thrilling victories and the agonizing defeats of the short session of Maine’s 130th Legislature, I want to congratulate the Skowhegan High School boys and girls wrestling teams. Both teams won Class A State Championship matches and, for that, were invited to the gallery of Maine’s House
The discovery of forever chemicals (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS) in the Maine agricultural landscape over the last several years has led to a significant amount of information coming to light about the state of Maine’s sanctioning and licensing of biosolids applications over decades. For producers who have come to Maine to start
On March 31, Erin French of The Lost Kitchen in Freedom, Maine, announced the opening of the restaurant’s 2022 reservation system with a special fundraising effort to support local farmers dealing with PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) contamination. Through French’s encouragement over the last month, over 25,000 people have donated more than $950,000 to the
MOFGA is celebrating landmark policies enacted two weeks ago by Maine’s Legislature. With bipartisan support, two bills address the devastating problem of farmland contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as forever chemicals due to their persistence and prevalence in contaminating human health and the environment. One bill stops the practice of
The bill would ban the spreading of PFAS-contaminated sludge on Maine farmland, a key step in stemming further contamination of Maine land and water. The extent of contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to Maine farmland and water continues to come to light across the state. The contamination on farms that have come forward
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a final Origin of Livestock Rule for organic farmers. USDA’s publishing of this rule signals a long-awaited win for organic farms in Maine and is something that a coalition of advocacy groups and farmers has been recommending for several years. “This will
Each year, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) awards three scholarships in the amount of $1,500, one in each of the following categories: MOFGA Journeyperson program participant (past or present). Maine high school senior planning to study sustainable or organic farming (with a preference for colleges in Maine). Kennebec Valley Community College student
On Monday March 7, representatives from organic dairy farms, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and Organic Valley Cooperative met, and 11 farms were offered letters of intent from Organic Valley to supply the cooperative with organic milk. This is an encouraging step in the journey of these farms, and 69 others throughout
To learn more about PFAS contamination in Maine, check out our resources page. We continue to update it with information for farmers and gardeners, and the general public. To support farmers dealing with potential PFAS contamination, MOFGA is working with Maine Farmland Trust to administer a PFAS emergency fund. It is meant to serve as a
by Heather Spalding, MOFGA Deputy Director The past legislative session in Augusta generated some important victories in Maine’s pesticide regulation arena. We banned chlorpyrifos, restricted landscape use of neonicotinoids (neonics), prohibited the use of glyphosate and dicamba on school grounds, and reformed the composition of the Board of Pesticides Control (BPC), establishing that there will
