Maine ranked 44th among states for total agricultural sales in 2022. But it ranked 15th in vegetables, melons, and potatoes; 19th in fruits, berries, and tree nuts; and eighth in aquaculture.

Maine farms sold $869.5 million in agricultural products. Vegetables, melons, and potatoes generated $318.3 million. Milk from cows produced $146.8 million; fruits, berries, and tree nuts generated $88.6 million; and aquaculture added $87.5 million.

The entire USDA category for grains, oilseeds, dry beans, and dry peas accounted for $22.7 million—less than 3 percent of Maine’s agricultural sales. (USDA Census of Agriculture)

Traditional commodity policy is not irrelevant to Maine. But it tells only a small part of the state’s agricultural story.

That distinction should shape how Maine evaluates the next Farm Bill.

The House passed one version on April 30. On August 6, the Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance its separate proposal by a 10–11 vote. The 2018 Farm Bill remains extended through September 30, while several farm-policy investments were separately enacted through the 2025 budget reconciliation law. (House vote; Senate committee vote; USDA)

The immediate issue is not that every USDA program will disappear overnight. Programs have different funding and expiration rules, and Congress could extend current law again.

The larger issue is whether the unresolved parts of the next Farm Bill will work for the agriculture Maine actually has.

Start with dairy

Milk from cows accounted for nearly 17 percent of Maine’s agricultural sales in 2022. The state is currently home to more than 130 dairy farms, including cow, goat, and sheep operations.

Most Maine cow dairies ship milk to plants regulated primarily through the federal milk-order system, although Maine maintains additional state pricing protections. (Maine Milk Commission)

The Senate proposal includes provisions based on the Fair Milk Pricing for Farmers Act, sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Susan Collins. It would require dairy manufacturers to report processing-cost and product-yield information, with survey results published every two years. That information could then inform future changes to Federal Milk Marketing Orders. (Senator Collins; Senate section-by-section summary)

The requirement would not guarantee farmers a higher milk price. It would provide more complete information about the processing costs built into federal pricing formulas.

That is a technical change with practical consequences for Maine dairy farms.

Specialty crops need different risk tools

Maine reported 54,176 acres of potatoes and nearly 47,000 acres of blueberries in 2022. These crops face different production and market risks than corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, or rice.

UMaine Cooperative Extension reports that wild-blueberry growers experienced an average yield loss of 44 percent in 2025 because of drought and elevated temperatures. The Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine separately estimated the industry’s weather-related losses at approximately $28 million. (UMaine Cooperative Extension; Wild Blueberry Commission testimony)

The Senate draft would create a specialty-crop emergency-assistance framework and allow USDA to use state block grants when distributing future disaster funding. It would also establish specialty-crop expertise within the crop-insurance system and direct USDA to research improved insurance options for blueberries and losses caused by frost, freezes, and cold weather. (Senate Farm Bill summary)

These are proposals, not benefits currently available to farmers. But they move federal risk policy closer to Maine’s agricultural reality.

Build the capacity between farm and market

Maine farms do not only need assistance after a loss.

They need viable routes to markets.

The Senate proposal would retain funding for the Local Agriculture Market Program and streamline its applications and reporting. It would expand opportunities for small meat and poultry processors, improve the Rural Energy for America Program, and continue organic and specialty-crop research.

It would also raise proposed Farm Service Agency loan limits to $850,000 for direct farm-ownership loans, $750,000 for direct operating loans, and $100,000 for microloans while making additional changes intended to improve beginning-farmer access. (Senate Farm Bill summary)

Program scale and usability matter in Maine. Ninety-five percent of Maine farms are family farms, and roughly three-quarters reported less than $25,000 in agricultural sales in 2022.

Processing, financing, energy, research, and market development may matter more to many of these businesses than changes to traditional commodity supports.

Authorization alone is not enough, however. Funding, USDA staffing, application requirements, and technical assistance determine whether farmers can actually use a program.

Apply a Maine test

The Senate draft would also add PFAS effects and mitigation to an existing agricultural research-and-extension grant authority. It would not provide direct financial relief to affected farms.

A separate bipartisan proposal led by Senator Collins and Representative Chellie Pingree would authorize state grants for financial assistance, testing, remediation, and—in some cases—farm relocation. (Maine delegation)

That distinction matters. Research is essential. Research and farm assistance are not interchangeable.

As negotiations continue, Maine should ask:

Does the dairy cost-reporting provision survive?

Do specialty-crop disaster and insurance programs reflect Maine’s actual crops?

Are local-market, processing, credit, energy, and research programs accessible at a useful scale?

Does federal PFAS policy connect research with practical support for affected farms?

Maine does not need a Farm Bill written only for the farms at the center of the map.

It needs one built for the farms that are actually here.