#mainefarmers — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mainefarmers, aggregated by home.social.
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More of this, please...!
#Solar companies partnering with #MaineFarmers for land management
by Jamie Azulay, Jul 28, 2026
#HollisME - "#Nexamp, a #RenewableEnergy company with several solar farms in Maine, is working with local farmers to manage the land beneath its panels. In Hollis, Jonathan Tibbetts was contracted to bring his flock of about 40 #sheep to an approximately 20-acre field.
" 'Basically, what their job is, is to keep the grass below the panels,' Tibbetts said. 'When we leave, we don’t necessarily want it to look like a lawn, but we want the vegetation managed.'
"Nexamp leases the land, and it prefers to avoid heavy machinery powered by #FossilFuels to maintain it.
" 'It’s kind of a no-brainer. It’s more #sustainable. The costs are good,' said Keith Hevenor, Nexamp's communication manager. 'It’s safer in a lot of ways than running mechanical mowers through #SolarFields where you can kick up a rock or do some sort of damage.'
"Nexamp is grazing 2,000 acres across sites in the United States. Eighty sites, with a combined 600 acres, are being grazed in Maine. These partnerships keep operations environmentally friendly while also supporting #LocalAgriculture.
" 'Land access for farming is getting harder and harder for every farmer,' Tibbetts said.
"Tibbetts was running out of space on his farm, but now his business is growing with access to the Nexamp field.
" 'I can go out and put sheep on solar and make an income,' he said. 'To me, that’s still agriculture. It’s just not what people are used to.'
"The partnerships reflect a new age of agriculture, which some farmers are adjusting to while others are struggling to accept the changes.
" 'Solar is controversial, but the reality of it is, it’s here,' Tibbetts said.
"Hevenor hopes the critics who say solar companies are stealing farmland eventually come around. He argues the company is only borrowing these fields temporarily.
"State-mandated decommissioning plans allow the land to return to its previous use if that is what the property owner chooses to do.
" 'If you come in here and build an #AmazonWarehouse or a #Datacenter or a neighborhood, it’s permanently gone,' Hevenor said.
"Hevenor said many of the landowners Nexamp leases from are farmers themselves.
" 'I can see how somebody in their 70s who’s just trying to keep the farm and is looking for some type of income, who isn’t able to farm the way they were 20 years ago, it’s an avenue for them to keep their farm,' Tibbetts said.
"Nexamp has fields out of state being grazed by pigs and cattle. Hevenor said that could be a possibility in Maine in the near future."
Watch video:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/solar-companies-maine-land-management-livestock-farmers/73178986#SolarPunkSunday #MaineFarms #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow #Agrovoltaics
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So, when the time comes, our #Farmer friends already have #Pitchforks!
With tractor parade, Maine farmers protest #USDA cuts that could leave many in debt
by Eesha Pendharkar
Wed, April 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM EDT"Steve Sinisi of Old Crow Ranch in Durham was among dozens of farmers who paraded through the streets of Augusta on Wednesday on tractors bearing signs like 'Support Farmers, Not #Billionaires' and '#CompostTrump.'
"The more than 100 farmers and supporters were there to protest the millions of dollars in federal cuts to agricultural grants and programs and raise awareness about the impacts they would have on their farms and livelihoods."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/tractor-parade-maine-farmers-protest-201230864.html
#FarmersAgainstFascism #BadDOGE #FarmersResist #MaineFarmers #TractorParade #MaineResists #CompostTheRich
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TODAY! April 16th! #Maine
FARMER DAY of ACTION
Wed, April 16, 11:00 AM
111 Sewall St, Augusta ME
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TRACTOR BRIGADE & PARADE, & SpeakersRSVP and attend and I'll bring you a free pro hand-painted sign to keep. Limit to 1st ten who let me know.
https://actionnetwork.org/events/honor-the-contracts-farmer-day-of-action?source=direct_link&
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'This is our best option:' #Maine farmers turn to #SolarEnergy due to #contaminated fields
Story by Brad Rogers
7/25/2024ARUNDEL (WGME) – "#PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, have been nothing short of disastrous for hundreds of #Mainefarmers.
"It's ruined their land, made their cattle, milk and eggs unsafe to eat and left many farmers with serious health problems.
"'This farm has been in our family since 1914,' #FredStone, whose #Arundel farm was contaminated with PFAS, said.
"Stone was a third-generation dairy farmer in Arundel until forever chemicals were discovered in his fields, #WellWater, cows and milk.
"The pollution came from spreading #wastewater #sludge on his farm after the state told him it was safe.
"#MaineDEP has identified more than 500 sites where sludge was applied to farmland as #fertilizer.
"In 2017, Stone was the first farmer in the state to have his dairy farm and his pasture shut down due to #PFAScontamination.
"To make up for it, the state offered to buy his farm, but he refused to walk away.
"'We’re not in the farm selling or land selling business,' Stone said. 'Given what options we had left, that brought us to the solar thing.'
"He's been working with #WaldenRenewables to build a solar array on 100 acres of his contaminated farm.
"'It's their best alternative, but for some of these landowners, it's hard to kind of accept the change that they're facing,' Dale Knapp of Walden Renewables said. 'This is an injection of revenue that they desperately need.'
"This week, the Maine Public Utilities Commission [#MainePUC] approved new rules, paving the way for solar development on PFAS-polluted farms.
"'The Act provides that the commission must give a primary preference to projects that are located on contaminated lands,' Carrie Gilbert of the Maine PUC Commission said.
"'This is our best option,' Stone said. 'So reluctantly, very reluctantly I guess, that’s what we ended up having to do.'
"Stone plans to sign a 30-year lease for the solar array.
"After that, his farm may still be contaminated with forever chemicals, but 30 years is a long time for someone to come up with a solution.
"'That might mean that generational farm just goes on pause,' Knapp said. 'And the next generation may have the opportunity to return it to being a family farm someday.'
"'I’m very bitter,' Stone said. 'This is not the way we wanted to see this go. Yeah, I would love to see it continue on as a farm of some kind but damn the state of Maine for putting me in this position.'"
#MaineFarms #SolarFarms #ContaminatedFarmland #Reuse #SolarFarm #RenewablesNow #RenewableEnergy #PFOA #WaterIsLife #PFOS #PFASContamination #WaterPollution #PFASPollution #PTFE #Wildlife #Cancer #Contamination #Chemicals #Environment #GenXChemicals