USDA

The letter does not make clear how much funding is at stake or which programs are affected.

The United States Department of Agriculture has concluded its review of the University of Maine System and determined it is in compliance with Title IX.

Pingree is co-leading a group of more than 80 U.S. lawmakers who are demanding answers after the agency canceled two programs that supported local farms, food banks, and children.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association says farmers are waiting for at least a million dollars in reimbursements from USDA contracts approved by Congress during the Biden Administration.

Those who have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are nervously awaiting word on whether they will get their promised funds, or be on the hook for thousands of dollars of projects that are already well underway.

Local groups say the USDA's Aquaculture Census is undercounting the number of operators in the state.

The share of Maine households experiencing food insecurity has fallen over the last decade, but food banks say demand is once again on the rise.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that it will support keeping potatoes classified as a vegetable, instead of a grain.

Growers rely on the map, which delineates different plant hardiness zones based on average minimum temperatures over a 30-year period. It had not been updated for 11 years.

According to a report from the USDA, farmers produced about 78 million pounds of wild blueberries in 2022, a 26 percent drop from 2021.