State leads New England in farmland, sales up nearly 25% over five years

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that farming in Maine is on the increase, with Maine leading New England in the number of farms in operation.

"The farm economy in Maine is alive and well and growing," Pingree said. "It's grown by almost 25% over five years and Maine farmers are younger and more likely to be women than in the country overall. And CSAs are more popular in Maine than in nearly any other state in the country."

According to Gary Keough, a statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, agriculture sales increased by 24% from 2007 to 2012. The average age for Maine farmers is 1.3 years younger than the national average, and 29% of Maine farmers are women, compared to just 17 percent nationally. And Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) arrangements, where consumers pay a fixed price for a share of a farm's output, are more popular in Mainethan almost anywhere else in the country, with Maine ranking third in the number of farms participating in CSAs.

"You can see Maine people take high quality local food and farming seriously," Pingree said. "Just look at the growth of organic farming, which increased by over 50% in five years."

In 2007 organic products generated $23.3 million in sales in Maine, by 2012 that number had increased to $36.4 million.

Pingree, who owns an organic farm on the island of North Haven, wrote and introduced the Local Farm, Food and Jobs Act, which included dozens of provisions to promote local, sustainable agriculture. Many of Pingree's proposals were adopted as part of the Farm Bill, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama earlier this year.

Statistics on Maine agriculture are from the 2012 USDA Census of Agriculture, a comprehensive report published every five years.

More Maine farming statistics, including a link to the USDA report, can be found in this article by Gary Keough at USDA.