Washington County farmers face mounting economic uncertainty, but they will not see a proposal for relief funds on the November ballot.
Lawmakers made several attempts to revive LD 2094, a bill that would have directed a $45 million bond into existing grant and low‑interest loan programs for farmers and the forestry sector.
In the final days of the session, Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Benton, introduced an amendment to fold the farm and forestry funding into another bill, LD 299. Lawmakers described the LD 299 “strike‑and‑replace” amendment as a way to route the support through the supplemental budget.
Sen. Marianne Moore, R‑Calais, ultimately supported the bill but said she remained hesitant about bonding the funds.
“While I supported the bond,” she told Monitor Local, “I still strongly believe my Democratic colleagues should have included this funding in the budget, which is why I supported a Republican‑backed amendment to the supplemental budget to do so.”
Rep. Bill Pluecker, an independent from Warren and the bill’s primary sponsor, did not respond to a request for comment.
Although the Senate engrossed L.D. 299, approving the “strike‑and‑replace” amendment, the bill ultimately failed to win enough votes for enactment. The legislative session ended in mid‑April with the bond proposal still stalled between the House and Senate, without a consensus.
Eric Venturini, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine, said the commission is “disappointed” the bond legislation failed, calling it a “landmark funding initiative to support Maine’s farmers.” He said the commission will continue focusing on solutions to expand access to capital for the state’s wild blueberry growers.
Lisa Hanscom, who works in one of Maine’s heritage industries — wild blueberry farming — in Washington County, previously told Monitor Local that conditions outside her control, such as drought and tariff‑related cost increases, have left her relying on grant funding.
For Hanscom, who co‑owns and manages Welch Farm in Roque Bluffs with her father, and for other farmers and forestry workers, low‑interest and zero‑percent financing loans are critical to the survival of Maine’s wild blueberry sector, giving them access to capital they can repay without breaking the bank.
“Farmers aren’t looking for a handout,” said Shelley Megquier, policy and research director at Maine Farmland Trust.
“It’s heartbreaking, but not devastating,” she added, referring to the lack of funding secured for agriculture during a time when economic futures are historically unstable from drought and tariff price hikes, among other concerns. “Farmers are resilient. Farming in Washington County is not over.”
One challenge Washington County farmers and forestry agents will have to face in the coming fiscal year is the competitive nature of grants when additional funding can’t be secured in difficult times.
Megquier said the Legislature has been historically slow to fund grant programs after passing them, making matters more desperate.
For instance, the Farmers Drought Resilience Fund was signed by Gov. Janet Mills to support farmers through the drought in 2022. Despite being etched into law years before, it did not receive its first full year of funding until fiscal year 2026, according to Tom Gordon, soil and water conservation program coordinator at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry.
He said the grant program received “a one‑time fund for drought resilience of $1 million, and annual appropriation of $300,000,” and he suspects the agency has awarded about $765,000 on application totals of $2.1 million.
Megquier said farmers are frustrated with divisive politics and see this as a failure on both sides to fund a major sector of Maine’s economy.
Similar frustration is reflected in comments from some lawmakers.
“Unfortunately, apart from this one bond proposal,” Moore said, “supporting our farmers seemingly has not been a priority for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.”
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.