Report “AGCOM to MCTA”
March 18, 2025
Ref: meeting with Congresswoman
Chellie Pingree
Sub: State of the freeze on Federal funds in Maine
Good morning,
AGCOM, President Eric Venturini requested a meeting with our legislators, regarding
the state of the Federal funds that were frozen. The freeze has reflected on many grants and services in Maine and caused a great deal of worry to farmers in the country. Two weeks ago the funds were frozen by the current administration possibly to gain some insight as to why we are so in debt, but that’s another day. We were very pleased to have the meeting with Congresswoman Pingree, who was very receptive
to our concerns and will stay in touch with us with any updates.
As the AGCOM representative I was asked to state what the funds being frozen meant to MCTA and how our growers would be affected. I stated that the University of
Maine extension was very possibly most important to growers along with NRCS
“Natural Resources Conservation Services”. Both had hiring and funding freezes for
a time, but, both have been restored to continue their services. I’m listing four
important items I addressed, that impact the MCTA growers at the University of level.
1. MCTA seed orchard project at Hartland, new project.
2. Co-Operative extension’s help with growers projects.
3. Soil Testing for new and existing growers.
4. Pesticide control board, with Pesticides and disease problems and solutions.
The NRCS being the go to for grants, may have worried some when the freeze was placed, hopefully the concerns are put to rest. Best guess if you have something
pending call your NRCS contact to get the best information.
AGCOM has another meeting next week with Senator King and hopefully will have
more information to share. If there are any questions that I could try to pose to Sen.
King please forward them to me. Our time with legislators is short but usually time
well spent.
Sincerely Gary Fisher-AGCOM Rep.