Commissioner Amanda Beal Announces 2021 Agricultural Development Grants

August 10, 2021

For more information contact: Jim Britt at: Jim.Britt@maine.gov

AUGUSTA - Today, Commissioner Amanda Beal and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry's Agriculture Resource Development Division (ARD) announced $248,757 in Agriculture Development Grants (ADG) to innovative Maine businesses. ARD oversees Maine's ADG program, which supports market research, promotion, and testing and demonstrating new technologies. ARD has awarded nearly two million dollars in ADG grants to Maine agricultural businesses in the past five years.

"This year's ARD grant awardees are great examples of the innovative thinking and hard work being undertaken by producers that will ultimately strengthen our agricultural economy and provide continued access to high-quality Maine-grown and processed agricultural products," said Commissioner Amanda Beal. "We are very pleased to support these projects and offer our congratulations to each of this year's grant recipients."

The ADG program provides cost-share grants to conduct market promotion, research and development, value-added processing, and new technology demonstration projects. The ADG program was created in 1999, capitalized by the interest earned from the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund bond.

"The ADG is a popular, competitive program that brings forward creative, exciting projects from Maine's agricultural community," said DACF Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources Director Nancy McBrady. "The Department is thrilled to provide these grants to help implement programs and technologies that will have a positive ripple effect across multiple producers and diverse sectors."

For the 2021 grant cycle, added priority was given to projects in these categories:

  • Helping farms diversify products and markets and adapt sales and marketing models to better weather market disruptions
  • Creating new opportunities for multiple farms to expand access to local and regional markets
  • Enhancing fiber production and value-added food production opportunities for products containing all, or a majority of, Maine-grown ingredients/materials
  • Providing processing infrastructure opportunities for agricultural products from more than one farm
  • Improving adaptation and increasing resilience to climate-related crop or livestock disturbances in support of long-term farm vitality and productivity

2021 ADG Award Recipients

Crystal Springs Community Farm (Brunswick)
Project: Expanding access to diverse markets for more Maine farmers by providing refrigerated cold storage and adding value with custom retail product packaging
Award: $32,770

Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center (Walpole)
Project: Enhancing MAIC's business program for Maine aquaculture businesses by providing them with market research services tailored to their specific needs and goals for expansion
Award: $36,000

Maine Cheese Guild (Sydney)
Project: Development of Industry Assessment to Identify Improved Opportunities for Maine Cheesemakers
Award: $30,000

Maine Farmland Trust (Belfast)
Project: Business of Farming: Helping Farmers Access New Markets and Build Resilience to Market Fluctuations
Award: $49,987

Maine Grains (Skowhegan)
Project: Expansion to Add Baking Mixes and Easy-to-Prepare Local Grains
Award: $50,000

Thirty Acre Farm (Waldoboro)
Project: Thirty Acre Farm Demonstration of COBOTIC (Robot-Assisted) Filling and Capping Operations
Award: $50,000

2021 ADG Award Recipient Comments

"The Agriculture Development Grant awarded to the Maine Cheese Guild will comprehensively assess the current status of cheesemaking in Maine and inform strategies to grow the industry within Maine and across the country. The wide scope of this project will encompass the entire marketing process, from cheese production to retailer to consumer, resulting in a tool kit the Maine artisan cheese industry will use to explore and identify market opportunities. This investment by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation will inform public policy decisions and have long-term benefits, including expansion and growth of cheesemaking businesses in Maine through additional marketing opportunities." - Holly Acre, Maine Cheese Guild Board President and founder of Local Goods Gathered

"As a Maine cheesemaker, I am excited about the Agriculture Development Grant awarded to the Maine Cheese Guild and the opportunities it will provide for developing our businesses. The Maine Cheese Guild has been very supportive of new cheesemakers, but as a volunteer-run organization, has not had the capacity to do an industry-wide study. Cheesemakers will find the developed information very useful and informative when applying for grants and developing business planning tools. I look forward to learning more about our industry through this program." - Heather Donahue, Maine Cheese Guild Secretary and owner of Balfour Farm

"We're excited to trial this technology for medium-scale food processors and are confident we can find ways to streamline our production and minimize the labor issues we've been experiencing. This equipment will also enable us to diminish repetitive tasks and provide a more challenging and rewarding work environment for our staff. Acquiring this equipment had previously seemed out of reach. It aligns with our company's growth, but we wouldn't have been able to acquire the equipment without this grant. The hope is that we can demonstrate that this equipment works and that it will be useful for many other Maine businesses." - Simon Frost, Owner, Thirty Acre Farm

"Maine Grains is humbled to receive the Agricultural Development Grant. With its help, Maine Grains will further expand the market for Maine-grown grains by meeting the consumer demand for nutritious, easy-to-prepare meals. The funds will assist with the purchase of infrastructure needed to package and pack existing products more efficiently, include value-added products in our expanding product line, and continue to purchase grain from more than 45 different farms per year." Kayla Bess, Sales and Marketing Manager at Maine Grains

Learn more about the ADG program and learn about this years grant winners on the ARD webpage. Notice of ARD grant programs is available by email notification. Use the sign-up field on the upper right-hand of this page.