Maine Farm Bureau Association Office: (207) 622-4111 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement by Executive Director Julie Ann Smith on ACF Commissioner Beal’s Effort to Include Wild Blueberries in the Market Facilitation Program “There are many positive changes on the horizon for Maine’s wild blueberry farmers,” said Julie Ann Smith. “Soon two new beneficial laws will take… Read more >
Posts Categorized: Current Issues
Maine Farm Bureau Statement on Hay and Grazing Dates for Prevented Planting
The American Farm Bureau recently released a statement regarding the USDA’s announced adjustment to the 2019 hay and grazing date for prevented planting acres. Cliff Kramer, a member of the MFB Board of Directors who farms hay said, “Trying to make dry hay has not happened for us yet this year. A lot of… Read more >
Executive Director Julie Ann Smith on GHRT
Our Executive Director, Julie Ann Smith, joined the George Hale Ric Tyler Show on Friday, June 14 to discuss the pitfalls of LD 795, “Resolution, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Establish a Right to Food.”
Action Alert: Contact your legislators today to OPPOSE LD 420
Last week the Maine Legislature’s Taxation Committee voted on party lines in support of LD 420, An Act to Amend the Maine Exclusion Amount in the Estate Tax. This bill, if enacted and signed by Governor Mills, would return the estate tax exclusion amount to $2 million from $5.7 million for estates of decedents dying… Read more >
America Needs Investments in Rural Communities and Economic Development
American well-being is tied to the economic survival of rural America. More than 46 million people – about 15 percent of the U.S. population – live in rural America. They provide the food and fiber that feeds and clothes the nation, and much of the world. Despite its importance, the rural American economy has suffered,… Read more >
LD 1481- Exempting commercial farmers and loggers from paying sales tax on off-road fuel
This Legislative session Maine Farm Bureau and the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine sponsored LD 1481. The bill is currently being discussed in both bodies of Legislature as the session nears its end. For more information regarding the bill and the impact it would have after becoming law, please review the article in the Portland… Read more >
Young Mainers will revitalize our economy. We need high-speed broadband to do it.
One of our young members writes about how she feels it is her right to have access to broadband Internet in rural Maine. Read this article for more information. https://bangordailynews.com/2016/02/01/opinion/contributors/young-mainers-will-revitalize-our-economy-we-need-high-speed-broadband-to-do-it/?ref=OpinionBox