Mainebiz

April 2, 2018

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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 A P R I L 2 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E "Right now, everyone's pretty bullish on agriculture," says Hallowell. "ere are people starting out from scratch. Aroostook County has a good base of younger people getting back into the family farm, so the industry is pretty strong in northern Maine." e number of young people without family experience in farming appears to be growing, too, he says. Like many industries in Maine, an aging demographic will force major changes in farm ownership in the com- ing decade, according to CEI. "It will be critically important that the new generation have the opportu- nity to purchase and/or get on the land through a number of different avenues," Harris says. "Having access to low-cost capital is going to be pretty critical." Dealing with risk Agriculture is a risky industry, weighed by factors like unpredictable weather, market fluctuations and crop disease. Farm Credit East Vice President Matthew Senter points to the blue- berry industry as an example of the impact market fluctuation can have. "ere's been somewhat of an excess of supply, so the average price Spinnaker Trust ...where Women and Leadership go hand in hand Amanda V. Rand, Spinnaker's President and CEO Spinnaker Trust 123 Free Street, Portland 04101 C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Maine market size Maine farms have $3.8 billion in statewide sales, which includes: PRODUCTION ¡ vegetables ¡ fruits ¡ greenhouse ¡ nursery and floriculture ¡ other crops ¡ cattle ¡ dairy cattle and milk ¡ poultry and eggs ¡ support activities PROCESSING ¡ wet corn milling ¡ frozen food manufacturing ¡ fruit and vegeta- ble canning ¡ picking and drying ¡ fluid milk and butter manufacturing ¡ cheese manufacturing ¡ ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturing ¡ animal and poultry slaughtering and processing ¡ wineries S O U R C E : University of Connecticut $20,000 Average net per farm $78,996 Average expenses per farm S O U R C E : U.S. Department of Agriculture / 2012 Agriculture Census Maine market value MAINE FARMS BY VALUE OF SALES < $2,500 3,279 farms $2,500 to $4,999 1,022 farms $5,000 to $9,999 1,045 farms $10,000 to $24,999 1,081 farms $25,000 to $49,999 589 farms $50,000 to $99,999 379 farms $100,000+ 778 farms 5,346 farms earn less than $10,000 7,395 farms earn less than $100,000 90.1% 65.4%

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