3 Maine Counties to Get Funding for Farmers

BELFAST – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will allocate $99,000 in Emergency Conservation Program funding to three Maine counties to help farmers and ranchers rehabilitate land damaged by last year’s ice storms and other natural disasters.

Aroostook County will receive $85,000, Lincoln County $5,000 and Waldo County $8,500, according to a press release from Dave Lavway, state executive director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Maine.

“This funding will provide much-needed assistance to farmers and ranchers who have been hit hard by recent calamities,” Lavway said. “It will allow farmers and ranchers to repair environmental damage caused by the disaster conditions they have encountered, such as flooding and drought conditions.”

Producers should check with their local FSA offices regarding ECP sign-up periods, which are set by FSA county committees. For a producer’s land to be eligible, the disaster must create new conservation problems that, if untreated, would impair or endanger the land and affect its productive capacity. Conservation problems existing before the applicable disaster are ineligible for ECP assistance.

For information on ECP and other disaster assistance programs, visit local FSA service centers or go to www.fsa.usda.gov.

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