‘Without farmers, you are all done’

There is just something about putting a seed in the ground and watching it transform into food.

Well, not just food. Really good, fresh food that tastes like accomplishment.

It’s easy to take our familiarity with farming for granted because Maine is more Green Acres than Park Avenue, but the fact is that every plate of food set in front of you took great efforts by farmers, large and small.

In Maine, potatoes are king, with 50,500 harvested acres of spuds statewide. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the potato’s value to Maine is $174.5 million in sales every year.

Blueberries are a distant second. Production and sales totaled $94.4 million last year, including berries that were processed for export and fresh-to-market fruit.

According to the USDA, hay is the next most productive crop, followed by apples and then maple syrup: $67.7 million, $35.3 million and $15.5 million, respectively.

And, then there’s milk. While technically not a crop, it continues to be a high production farming product at $118.8 million last year. Maine ranks 32nd in the nation for milk production, according to the USDA.

(While not food, one of most productive farm crops exported from Maine are Christmas trees.)

In 2014, the number of farms increased while the age of farmers decreased, meaning more young people are turning to agriculture to raise their families.

Just this week, the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program awarded two grants to help Mainers.

Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport was awarded $600,000 to help fund its organic dairy farmer training program, where people live on the farm and learn how to manage cows and dairy production.

And, the National Center for Appropriate Technology in Montana was awarded $200,000 to fund a program to help military veterans who want to begin farming in the Northeast. “Armed to Farm” is a program to help vets learn how to qualify for government programs and help them identify niche farming opportunities, like organic foods and agricultural tourism. Yes. People will pay vacation prices to experience life on the farm.

In Brunswick, Bowdoin College student Shannon McCabe is the driving force for the new “gleaning” effort at Six River Farm in Bowdoinham. McCabe was awarded a scholarship to pursue her idea to match surplus food with food pantries and families living in low-income houses. Food that may have gone to waste is now being delivered to the hungry.

And, then there are the efforts of everyday working farmers to share the bounty.

In Wilton, Clayton Harvell offers surplus produce at reduced prices at his farm stand on Route 2. Harvell told The Franklin Journal that he was raised by his grandfather on a sustenance farm and he believes in sharing with neighbors.

He tells a story about his son, Lance, who was once asked by a teacher to list the most important jobs in society.

Lance listed farming, and the teacher corrected him, suggesting doctors are more important because they save lives.

According to Clayton, his boy promptly said “without farmers, you are all done.”

True that.

The seeds of Maine farmers’ labors are being harvested now, an enormous job that will continue until the snow flies. We may have a short growing season here, but we have a tremendous commitment to agriculture and sustainability, which can be seen at farmers’ markets, community gardens, agricultural fairs and in public celebrations, like the harvest party scheduled Sept. 25 at the Somali Bantu Community Farm in New Gloucester.

We are fortunate to have local connections to our food sources and to be able to see where our food grows in fields alongside our roads. That’s not a given for many people, and one we ought to celebrate.

Celebrate with food.

jmeyer@sunjournal.com

Upcoming ag fairs:

Aug. 20-27: Union Fair

Aug. 25-28: Piscataquis Valley Fair

Aug. 25-28: Acton Fair

Aug. 28-Sept. 5: Windsor Fair

Sept. 1-5: Blue Hill Fair

Sept. 2-5: Springfield Fair

Sept. 2-5: Harmony Free Fair

Sept. 8-11: Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair

Sept. 9-11: Litchfield Fair