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• Introduced by Rep. Wendy Pieh (D) on March 4, 2008, this bill is the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Joint Order 2007, H.P. 1555. 1. It allows participants in the Maine Farms for the Future Program to receive loans from the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund at a reduced interest rate of 2%. 2. It changes the eligibility criteria for applicants to the Maine Farms for the Future Program for business development planning. Under current law the applicant must own at least 5 acres of land in agricultural use. The bill instead requires that applicants must own an agricultural business that has operated in the State for a minimum of 2 years. As proposed, ownership of 5 acres is required only for those entering the implementation phase and applying for a grant in exchange for a farmland protection agreement. 3. It extends the time period for assembling a services package for participants in the Maine Farms for the Future Program business planning program from 12 to 18 months and requires instruction or classroom training in economics and business planning. It removes the requirement that the Commissioner of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources approve payments of more than $5,000 for business planning services. 4. It extends the duration of a farmland protection agreement from 5 years to 7 years. 5. It replaces the mandate that the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources contract out the administration of the Maine Farms for the Future program with permissive language and removes the requirement that a contracting organization provide a $200,000 match. It also removes the cap on expenditures for administrative costs for a contracting organization. It requires that a minimum of 40% of annual state funding for the Maine Farms for the Future Program be reserved for grants to implement a business plan. 6. It expands on the information to be included in the annual reports for the Maine Farms for the Future Program and the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund. 7. It removes the definition of "direct marketing" in the provisions for the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund. This term is no longer used in the subchapter in which the definition appears. 8. It removes the cap of $100,000 on Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund loans for land for the start-up of a new agricultural business. 9. It extends the time period during which grants for technical assistance and research must be expended to the 3 fiscal years following designation. 10. It removes provisions for business planning under the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund, eliminating the provisions of similar services under both the Maine Farms for the Future Program and the Agricultural Marketing Loan Fund. 11. It directs the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to review recommendations presented in the January 2008 report on the agricultural creative economy during regularly authorized meetings and to develop legislation to implement the report's recommendations relating to assistance, development and promotion for agricultural businesses. 12. It authorizes the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agricultural matters to submit legislation during the First Regular Session of the 124th Legislature.
  • Referred to the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee on March 4, 2008.
  • Amendment offered in the House on March 31, 2008. The amendment passed by voice vote in the House on March 31, 2008.
• Passed by voice vote in the House on March 31, 2008.
• Received in the Senate on March 31, 2008.
• Passed by voice vote in the Senate on April 1, 2008.