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Maine Farming Group to Create First Disaster Relief Fund

(BELFAST, Maine) A Maine farming advocacy and preservation organization is creating a disaster relief fund for the first time.
 
"It's the kind of thing we should have been doing all along." says John Piotti, who heads  Maine Farmland Trust. Piotti says the group was spurred into action following  a freak storm in July which caused over $60,000 dollars in damage to Misty Brook Farm in Albion. The farm was pelted with golf ball sized hail, roofs were torn off three structures by 70 mph winds,  and almost 80 chickens were killed.
Such a sudden squall can sink a small farm, says Piotti.

"The recent disaster at Misty Brook is significant, but it's not uncommon. Fire is often common at farms. Obviously wind storms and hail. And things like that can not only destroy property but destroy crops and in the case of Misty Brook it also killed some livestock."

The group is seeding the disaster fund with $10 thousand of its own money, but Piotti says the hope is that the fund will quickly grow through charitable donations.

 Founded in 1999, Maine Farmland Trust, based in Belfast and Unity has completed over 450 projects in support of Maine farms, and preserved 43,000 acres of farmland.