Cultivating Success: Improving the competitiveness of specialty crops among beginning farmers in Maine

Commodities

• Vegetables: eggplant, garlic, greens (leafy), okra, tomatoes

Practices

• Crop Production: crop improvement and selection, food product quality/safety, irrigation, nutrient management
• Education and Training: demonstration, mentoring, workshop
• Energy: renewable energy
• Farm Business Management: business planning, land access
• Sustainable Communities: food access and security, food sovereignty, leadership development, local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, urban agriculture

Cultivating Community proposes to provide fundamental farm skills training to 30 farmers in seasonal cohorts to increase their long-term financial viability and sustainability by improving the competitiveness of growing specialty crops for local sale.

While Maine attracts new farmers from all agrarian backgrounds, bringing rich traditions and farming skills, agriculture Maine's climate is dramatically different from other growing regions. We are meeting the clearly stated need from our Community Farm Program participants for marketing and farm business development support to connect with federal/state incentive programs, meet food safety standards, and learn to navigate technology and necessary recordkeeping. There are no farmer training programs that serve Maine's population center of Greater Portland, that provide land access and hands on skill building.

A total of 30 mixed vegetable farmers will participate in cross-cultural training that improves their competitiveness to produce and market specialty crops. As a result, 15 farmers will transition from subsistence to commercial-scale agriculture by establishing farm stand sales and/or wholesale accounts. This will result in an estimated average increase of $10,000 sales per farm by the third year of the project.

In addition, 75 participants will take part in culturally inclusive workshops with at least 85% increasing farm-skills knowledge and understanding of training program opportunities.