| MAINE FARMLINK – a Maine Farmland Trust Program

Welcome!

Maine FarmLink is pleased to present our newly updated website! Take a moment to tour our informational Tabs and Links. Our Farm List has some exciting new updates, that we feel will be helpful for the people seeking a connection with a farmer and their land.

Maine FarmLink, a program of Maine Farmland Trust, is a linking service that helps connect people who are seeking farmland “Seekers”, with farmland “Owners” (or their representatives) who are looking to sell, lease or work out non-traditional tenure arrangements, based on their respective interests, needs and goals. Maine FarmLink works with each party to fully understand their interests and needs. Our personal contact and customized support, combined with the assistance of our program partners, has helped FarmLink to become an effective program. To date, Maine FarmLink has made over 80 links, making it one of the most successful programs of its kind in the nation.

Maine FarmLink is for you IF…

You are a farmland owner thinking about selling or leasing your land, OR
You are seeking farmland to buy, lease or open to a non-traditional tenure arrangement.

Maine FarmLink
For the farmland owner:

Maine FarmLink may help you find a farmer who can work with you to keep your land in farming. Contrary to popular belief, there are a large and growing number of prospective farmers who are ready, willing and able to farm in Maine. FarmLink maintains a statewide database of these persons—one may be a perfect match.

For the farmland seeker:

Maine FarmLink may be able to help guide you towards the farm you are looking for. And we can provide the resources and training (or point you to a Program Partner or Companion Program) to help you succeed.

Services Provided

Maine FarmLink

Linking

We link farmland seekers with farmland owners who are looking to sell, lease or find some other non-traditional tenure agreement, based on their respective interests, needs and goals.

Guidance and Referrals

We can help guide the entire “linking” process. We can connect participants to professionals or organizations who can help with business planning, financing, production support, management training and property transfer. While we strive to be of utmost assistance to our members, there are instances when time does not allow for immediate assistance. We will do our best to help you in your linking process. We appreciate your understanding for the work we do and your continued support of our program.

Farmland Protection

We can also help interested farmland owners explore preservation options. Sometimes, placing an Agricultural Easement on a farm before a transfer provides significant financial benefits that help make a transition possible.

Maine FarmLink and Real Estate Brokerage

Maine FarmLink is a linking service, NOT a real estate brokerage. Both “Seekers” and Farmland Owners often work with Real Estate Agents even while they are enrolled in our FarmLink program. We support and encourage these relationships.

Buy/Protect/Sell

Maine Farmland Trust does offer its own farm properties for sale through its “Buy/Protect/Sell” (B/P/S) program. Each year a handful of vulnerable farmland properties are purchased by Maine Farmland Trust. These properties are then permanently preserved and resold (usually at farmland value) to farmers.

Cost to Participate in Maine FarmLink

Maine FarmLink is a free service provided by Maine Farmland Trust. While there is no cost to enroll in Maine FarmLink, to ensure the future of the program, we encourage everyone to become members of Maine Farmland Trust. The standard individual membership cost is $30 per year. We appreciate your support as we continue our work to preserve and protect farming in Maine.

As always, we hope you find our site helpful and never hesitate to reach out to us if you feel we can assist you.

Best,

FarmLink