agriculture

For the first time, the PFAS Fund is considering inquiries to purchase four contaminated properties around the state.

While Gov. Janet Mills had proposed increasing the dairy stabilization program payments by 25%, Democrats on the budget-writing committee recommending limiting that increase to 10%.

The legislation cleared the House on a narrow, mostly party-line vote on Tuesday.

The bill, introduced by the Gov. Janet Mills, would require agricultural workers to be paid at least the state minimum wage.

Five Pillars Butchery is seeking federal grants to construction a new processing facility, and is in the early stages of creating a halal meat processors cooperative.

In the quest for climate solutions, Maine entrepreneurs are banking on biochar, a charcoal-like substance. They say it can bind up carbon for decades, and improve agricultural soils at the same time.

A late-season frost this year hit apple blossoms when they were at full bloom, and a few days of extreme cold in February knocked out nearly the entire Maine peach crop.

Their testimony will help Congress write a new Farm Bill, rural and agriculture policy legislation that's written roughly every five years.

The bills would have blocked foreign government-owned entities from spending money on Maine ballot campaigns, and ensured that farmworkers earn no less than Maine's hourly minimum wage of $13.80.

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.