Maine farm, ranch network seeks agricultural grant applications

The Maine Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network seeks applicants for small grants to support Maine agricultural well-being.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension manages the Maine Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network program, which is offered through the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry in collaboration with many other supporting agricultural organizations in the state. The program has more than $46,000 in available funding which it will distribute in individual grants ranging from $1 to $5,805, according to a news release from Izzy Ruffin of the Maine Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network.

To be eligible for funding, applicants must:

• Be an organization or entity that serves Maine agricultural populations, including farming, fishing, forestry or Indigenous food and medicine producers. Additional insurance requirements are listed on the FAQ document.

• Explain how the project or program for which applicant is seeking funding contributes to direct wellness support (broadly defined) for agricultural populations in the state. Examples include: addressing lack of access to physical and/or mental health services; providing equipment or services to decrease daily work stress; or addressing social or ecological changes in the environment that create strain for the person.

Applications to the Small Grants Fund are expected to be competitive and to exceed the amount of funding available. Should this be the case, program administrators will rank applications based on a variety of criteria including projected impact, availability of requested services and potential to support farmers and farm communities categorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as historically socially disadvantaged or as Limited-Resource Farm Households.

The Small Grants Fund is a project of the Maine Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, funded by USDA National Institute for Food & Agriculture, awarded to the Maine DACF and managed by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday, Nov. 15.

For more information or an application, visit docs.google.com/document/d/1PPPkNPM19kW8_ljZOwUMS19CsnKuBBoz_fPqGGQRAuc/edit. To apply over the phone, for English call 207-570-8308, for Haitian Creole call 207-800-5112, and for Spanish call 207-800-7605.