AUGUSTA — Maine’s agriculture commissioner says it’s “highly disappointing” the federal government won’t include the state’s blueberry growers in a program designed to provide payments to farmers hurt by trade disruption.
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commissioner Amanda Beal says the agency will keep pushing for the inclusion of Maine wild blueberry growers in future payment programs aimed at offsetting such disruptions.
Beal had called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to include wild blueberries in its Market Facilitation Program. That program’s set to provide aid to growers hurt by foreign trade retaliation. The U.S. is currently embroiled in trade hostility with China.
The USDA said Maine’s blueberry industry is helped by other assistance programs. Beal says the problem is those programs don’t provide help directly to the farmers themselves.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.