Maine Farm Days kick off in Clinton

CLINTON – There were a lot more visitors than farmers at Tuesday’s opening of Maine Farm Days, an agricultural trade show held on a working farm. Most farmers were taking advantage of the sunshine and cutting or baling hay.

“It has been such a bad year for hay,” Julie Marie Bickford of the Maine Dairy Improvement Association said while visiting the farm. Not only does hay provide an important component for cow feed, but it is a key source of extra income, Bickford said.

“This week, with all the good weather, maybe some of these farmers can get caught up,” she said.

Clinton has more cows than people – cows that produce more than 12 percent of all of Maine’s milk. There are 5,000 cows in the central Maine town, which has a population of 3,448. So it is appropriate that Maine Farm Days is held this week in the heart of Clinton.

“This is such a special place,” Robert Spear, Maine’s agriculture commissioner who attended the event, commented. “Clinton is the hub of dairy farming in Maine.”

The Wright Place, a four-generation dairy farm, is hosting the event.

Maine Farm Days, which continues today, allows farmers to network and nonfarmers to get a taste of farm life by milking cows, handling livestock, observing the latest farming methods and talking with the people of Maine who produce our food.

Tents full of equipment and supply dealers, representatives from agencies and programs for farmers were filled to capacity Tuesday. There also was a special area for children that included pony rides and a petting zoo. Tours were held throughout the farm, giving visitors a glimpse into a day on a working dairy farm.

Gov. John Baldacci on Tuesday’s opening day rode a hay wagon while touring the farm, visited with farmers and industry representatives and officially recognized the deep commitment that the nine major farms of Clinton play in Maine agriculture.

“Clinton has a long and proud agricultural history,” Baldacci said. “Some of the farms here have been operated by the same family for two centuries.”

Clinton Town Manager Keith Trefethen said Clinton’s dairy farms were the heart blood of the town.

“The farmers here are so giving of their land and services. They truly support our community,” he said.

As he wandered through the exhibits talking to Maine’s producers, Baldacci noted that he was hearing that farmers were having a good season, “but they are still being cautious about the future.

“I am officially proclaiming, however, that the drought is over. We are saturated.

“Agriculture is a billion dollar industry in the state of Maine,” Baldacci said. “Five hundred million of that is just dairy. It also sustains over sixty-thousand farm-related jobs. If we could fence in agriculture like the defense industry, people would be falling all over themselves to make sure it was protected.”

Baldacci pointed out that agriculture was interconnected with many other industries. “People don’t take the time and reflect when they walk into a grocery store,” he said. “The best of Maine is right here, local agriculture.”

An example of that connection is the natural beef program at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport. More than 80 Maine farms provide beef stock for the program, using 30,000 acres. The program provides natural, or grass-fed, beef to all Hannaford stores in New England.

“That’s a lot of free space people don’t think about when they buy meat in the store,” Kevin Woltemath, procurement director for Wolfe’s Neck, said.

“We’ve had a tremendous buy-in in Maine,” Woltemath said. “We are currently buying most of the cattle in the state. We are trying to maximize the opportunities for Maine farmers.”

Maine Farm Days events scheduled for today, the last day of the event, include wagon tours of the farm, a milking contest, equipment demonstrations, children’s’ learning center, crop trials, forest activities, and agri-business exhibits.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached by following the signs from former Exit 37 in Clinton on Interstate 95.