Farm Tomorrow

Hand on horses- this focus of this program is to make the knowledge of working horses a skill that is more widely used and appreciated. This includes not only the skills needed to care for, handle, harness and drive the horses, but also the mechanical skills and understanding of different types of equipment appropriate for horses; both how the equipment functions to understand how and why to is used and also how to repair it. There are several tiers to this program. The first is widening the public knowledge and appreciation of draft horse use. Many people do not realize that draft horses are a viable choice in agriculture today. We try to raise this awareness by doing demonstrations on public settings to show the nature of the work and the applications of draft power. The next level is introducing people to horses and driving. We allow an opportunity for people to try out the idea of draft power, to introduce them to horses and the care before they commit or dismiss the idea of draft horses. It gives someone who is interested in the idea of draft power a chance to try it before buying horses. The final level is a more intense training of people who are committed to learning the craft of being a teamster. These clinics are more focused on specific skills or pieces of equipment.

Youth in farming- this program brings the lessons of farming to youth of all ages. We have worked with groups such as 4-h, summer camps, and summer visitors. We organized classes and clinics children on a range of agricultural subjects. We allow the children to learn by doing and getting their hands on and in the activity. We hope to give the children a different experience of agriculture and farming that can be a foundation for future ideas and values about rural agriculture.

Farm to school programs- this goal of this program is to provide a farming and agriculture connection for the local schools at the elementary, high school, and college levels. By working with the schools and their curriculum we can provide a place for the students to learn their lessons in a hands on way. We have hosted classes to learn about maple syrup production, eighteenth century farming, food production, organic farming, and the philosophy of agriculture

Farm aid- this program supports small farms by making connections between farms or by providing a service that might be out of reach for a small Farm or a Farm that is establishing itself. In the early days of farming, when farms were still small, a community of farmers would share a big piece of equipment and help each other with their harvest. There was not a need for every Farm to own the harvesting equipment. As modern farms have grown in size this notion has been forgotten. We believe this is a piece of farming community and history that should be revived along with the movement of small farms. We provided use of our dry bean thresher to several farms, which provided an opportunity to grow a new crop without the added expense of the thresher, and it allowed them to experiment with growing a new crop before investing in the equipment needed to process it. We also helped organize moving livestock to the butcher. In rural Maine there is limited access to slaughter facilities, making them several hours away for many farms. Farms are challenged with needed a truck and trailer to move livestock and also the time and cost of the trip to the butcher. By helping farmers connect with each other we can help fill one trailer with livestock form several farms. This provides more access to the slaughter facility and helps reduce the cost of transportation for the farms.