More than 1,100 acres in Maine have been accepted into a federal land conservation program.
Farmers who participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program are paid an annual rental fee to remove agricultural land from production and plant it with species that protect wildlife and mitigate climate change.
The executive director for the Farm Service Agency in Maine, Sherry Hamel, says currently there are more 3,000 acres in the program, mostly in the north.
"We do have some throughout the state, but not as many as Aroostook County, and all of these new ones are Aroostook County," Hamel says.
Hamel says the number of acres in the program fluctuates from year to year, but it offers farmers an option for agricultural land that's not being used for production. She says the average annual payment is just under $90-per-acre.
