The public is invited to join Maine Farmland Trust on Thursday, July 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. for a summer evening picnic to share stories of your connection with Morris Farm and learn about the plans for its future. Please RSVP at https://www.mainefarmlandtrust.org/events/morris-farm-picnic by July 11. 

Live music and light refreshments will be provided, and attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic dinner and a blanket/chairs. The event will be held rain or shine at Morris Farm, 156 Gardiner Road, Wiscasset. Carpooling is encouraged and appreciated due to limited parking.

Just a mile from downtown Wiscasset, Morris Farm has been a mainstay in the community for generations, welcoming farm workers and volunteers, celebrating agriculture through a summer farm camp for kids, educational programs and events for all ages, community garden plots and pasture for local producers, and a “share shed” where people facing food insecurity can access free, locally grown food.

This community and agricultural resource is at risk. The 30-year restrictive covenant on the farm expires in 2025, Morris Farm Trust is no longer able to operate the property, and the farm will almost certainly be lost to development if sold on the open market. 

This summer, with the encouragement of Morris Farm Trust, Maine Farmland Trust aims to purchase the property. Maine Farmland Trust plans to then identify a new farmer and offer support services over a lease period of three to five years, before permanently protecting the farm with an agricultural conservation easement and selling it to the farmer. 

This approach lets farmers familiarize themselves with the land they will purchase and what is possible on the farm, develop their business accordingly, and access financial lending services with documentation of an established business in hand. Most importantly, it has potential to provide access to farmers who wouldn’t otherwise be able to farm on the property.

For more information on Maine Farmland Trust’s efforts to protect Morris Farm’s future and other ways to support the project, visit: https://www.mainefarmlandtrust.org/morris-farm

Maine Farmland Trust is a statewide, member-powered nonprofit working to protect farmland, support farmers and advance the future of farming. Since its founding in 1999, MFT has permanently protected over 370 farms and has helped keep over 68,000 acres of farmland in farming and support a network of over 550 farms with critical services. Learn more at www.mainefarmlandtrust.org