Town of Rumford community and economic development planning for agriculture

• 2006 annual report
• 2007 annual report

The communities of Oxford County have historically relied on natural resources for their livelihood. Farming and forestry are the primary sources of economic activity within the County. It is clear that the people living in Oxford County depend on a healthy agriculture sector not only for the economic value but the “quality of life” people are looking for. In 2002, 469 farms operated in Oxford County accounting for a market value of production of $14,651,000. Crop sales account for $11,216,000 and livestock sales accounted for $3,435,000. While this value represents both wholesale and retail sales, the ability of local farms to keep more sales dollars is growing. Retail opportunities have helped to increase net farm income. 89% of those surveyed in 2002, as part of a statewide marketing survey, felt that buying local product strengthened Maine’s economy. Given the relative small average size of farms in Oxford County, maintaining large tracts of open land for agriculture purposes is difficult. Farmers must resort to piecing together tracts of cropland in order to make their operations economically feasible. In order for agriculture to remain a viable economic sector in Oxford County, steps must be taken, beyond what farmers can do, to at least preserve the number of farms and the amount of land dedicated to farmland. The ability of the agriculture sector to compete and be economically viable has relied almost solely on the capacity of farmers to change and adapt to ever shifting circumstances. Competition from other parts of the county and world have force farmers to adopt more direct marketing and retail sales strategies, while being squeezed at the local level by a shrinking support infrastructure. Programs to help farmers remain viable rely on crop subsidies, farm and open space tax breaks, and business planning. For their part communities normally view farms as an opportunity to preserve open space. Agriculture in a town’s comprehensive plan is routinely identified only as part of the rural character of a community and as a way to maintain open space. Very little is provided in the way of community or economic development assistance from the community. A few projects by the Threshold To Maine RC&D Area, Western Mountains Alliance, and others have attempted to help communities take more seriously the economic needs of local farmers. However, when tax incentive financing and other economic incentives are discussed and voted on to attract businesses to a community, agriculture is conspicuously absent. Comprehensive planning also continues to ignore agriculture as a viable economic development strategy. The effects of a communities lack of attention to agriculture economic development is not only felt by farmers and their families but by the local citizens as well. Farmers can only adapt and innovate so much to maintain an economically viable living. Without help from the community they will continue to experience pressures that will eventually drive them out of business. And if a majority of consumers feel that buying local food helps the economy, then losing more farms will not provide those opportunities. There is a disconnect between what citizens act upon for economic development in the community and what is needed to support a viable agriculture sector. Until communities begin to address agriculture economic development, farmers will continue to struggle for economic parity with other businesses in the community.