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An independent farm journal Vol 3 No 1 Logging - Sugaring Spring Issue 2011

Influences in farming
UMaine composites
Dairy farmer
AUGUSTA - A second an- new Agriculture
Commissioner
nual Maine Wind Energy
Conference was held in Jan-
uary with speakers represent-
ing energy professions, Walter Whit-
businesses, homeowners, comb of Waldo County
towns and cities, schools, is Maine’s new Agricul-
utilities and legislators all tural Commissioner.
wanting to learn about on- Mr Whitcomb comes to
shore to off-shore wind tur- the posting having served several terms in the
bines, private wind farms state legislature and his whole life working the
and just what the stakehold- family farm of Colby (d) and Mrs. Lois Whit-
ers and the UMaine invest- comb on Birches Road, Waldo.. His appointment
Emily Adams photo

ment Consortium is doing to follows Seth Bradstreet, the last Governor’s

develop the first floating commissioner, and the new Governor has picked
wind farm project in the Gulf of Maine and what
this will do for the state’s growing energy needs.
Addressing that technology was Professor Habib
Maple farmers await sap weather another man who knows farming, and how to
produce food, and good fodder for animals.

Dagher, P.E., director of the Advanced Structures

and Composites Center at UMaine. See story p. 2

A Maine Debate Profile:

Chips vs Pellets Bob Smith
Mainely Agricul- Your newspaper looks at the
The 2010 USDA statistics for all northeast maple New York’s tally in the U.S.
producers was reported by Gary Keough, regional
$46.20. Prices in each state was
Across New England, the average higher and lower than the average,
ture takes a look at the grow- Maple syrup industry in the
ing interest with wood chips Pine Tree State this issue,
director, at the recent Maine Agricultural Trades equivalent price per gallon for 2009 however. See story p. 3
for burning in boilers vs the starting on page 5. Could it be Show in early January. He reported the Maine
the best season yet? The tree crop value increased at the same time the amount

Maine Maple Sunday Mar. 27

expanding use of pellets.
Some units use differing fuels farmers hope so. Lease tap- harvested decreased last year and 90% of the crop
to fire electric power genera- pers have surprising numbers
tion or heat water to heat pub-to pay tree owners and the is sold in bulk to food processors. Weather as
lic spaces and homes. established tree operations are always, influences the cropping in all northern
logically in gear from the states but Maine’s season was again slightly be-
Just what is the best fuel? Go
length and breadth of Maine, All over Maine sap
to page 14 and examine the
chock a block full and ready. hind New York. Keough said if more Maine
new debate. houses will be steaming
See story p. 7 producers would report their crop numbers to the
on Saturday and Sunday
Farm Service Agency in each
March 26, 27 as open
Vous parlez Next Issue county he is sure Maine would
Francais ? “We rush so you can flush” Focus: place higher in total produc-
houses are planned state
wide. The Maine De-
Notre colonne To plow, tion in the northeast states than
Sur l’agriculture Valley View Septic it does presently. Traditionally
plant, Vermont leads all states with
partment of Agriculture
posts a list of those par-
ticipating farms on that
Par notre Serving the harvest its production levels and last
web site. We have a few
Correspondante year Maine was 2,000 gallons
Francaise
Tri-County Area from Charleston off from becoming the second
farms who would like
visitors and those stories
‘Est on page 4 285-7374 717-6194 largest maple producer to
Emily Adams photo - Maple Candy Product, Bob’s Sugarhouse , Dover-Foxcroft
are within our pages.

DORR’S EQUIPMENT CO.

468 Hammond St. - Bangor, Maine 04401
Ph 945-5965 Or 942-4655 Fx 990-4924
2 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture Early Spring
Syrup Stats
Continued from page 1
New York
and Maine vie
to be the sec-
ond largest producers of
syrup in the U.S. But
Maine could improve
the same if all the tiny
boilers of sap would re-
port the amounts of syr-
up they produce for
each household. Very
many hobbyists such as
this consider it impor-
tant to add to agricultur-
al statistics and that
keeps Maine and New
York listed as third and
second respectively. A
margin of 2,000 gallons
between the two states
are the average bench
mark for recent years.
Nationwide all
production was down
19% with temperatures
to be too warm in spring
2010.
In Washington
152 Rockland Rd. 845-2480
Augusta Wind
energy
conference
A large number of Maine based firms
were present at Augusta Civic Center shortly after
the Maine Ag Trades Show to chat and listen to
over 30 speakers on topics related to new technol-
ogies, new opportunities and challenges towards
bringing Maine’s lead in oceanography and sci-
ence of composite tech to bear upon the North
Atlantic winds and the great possibility of har-
nessing the same. This newspaper chatted with
Larry Flowers of Colorado where he is Principal
Project Leader of that states Wind Powering
American Program (WPA). He has been to Maine
3 times in 4 years to speak. He spent the last 30
years working solar thermal, village power gener-
ation to include wind on the scale of application
of the same for schools and community generation.
This was a 2 day seminar and included
day time and evening lectures.
Katti M. Webb
Independet Dental
Hygienist
951 W Main Str.
Dover-Foxcroft
207 564-0095
OF MAINE ktoothfairy@yahoo.com
N.. Denture Center Location:
12 Stillwater Ave., Bangor
Copper
Cars
Brass
Trucks
Alumi-
Applia-
ances
num
Prof. Habib Dagher
Academics at Wind Energy Event
The state Uni- levels, 30 m, 60 m, and
versity Engineering De- 90 m. All designs to be
parment, Orono is funded by the consor-
making science challeng- tium made up of state,
es in the wind of ad- federal, international
vanced structure and private stakehold-
composites to position ers, 35 investors in sum.
water borne wind power
generation at 3 ocean
More farming talent not passed on to young farmers
Small scale agriculture lost a good man
last August when Bud Kluchnik passed
away unexpectedly. Bud had lived in
Ripley for some time with his family and
animals and was widely known for his abil-
ity with cattle. Bud could drive the big
trucks, work on heavy equipment and was
always willing to help someone out. He
gardened, kept dogs, was an avid horseman,
was familiar with sheep and goats. He
could wash off a prolapse and sew up the
animal, give his opinion on ailing animals.
Bud attended many large and small fairs
around the state and for some time traveled
the country to larger state fairs. Bud started
slowing down in recent years, but he was a
mainstay at the Garland Days Family Fair
for almost 20 years. He would bring his
truck and trailer, loaded with his cattle,
Late news -
1st town passes food ordinance
SEDGWICK - The first of 3 towns in western
Hancock County now set to take up discussion,
passed a special vote March 7 to protect consum-
ers from shoddy food packaging, suppliers etc.
See copy of ordinance on page 16. The main
thrust of the ordinance is to garner more local
food from more local farmers and to encourage
consumer interests in small scale farms. It ex-
empts food made in local kitchens similar to a
Michigan Cottage Food law without caps on gross
sales and types of foods processed. Local farmer
Bob St. Peter is quoted, “This ordinance creates
favorable conditions for begining farmers and
cottage scale food processors to try out and make
the most of each season’s bounty.” Further, he
said, “My family is already working on some
ideas we can do from home to help pay the bills
and get our farm going. The other towns taking
up this measure were due to decide the same after
our press date passed.
Photo by Rebecca Corey
horses, and dogs on Friday night, set up his
campsite, go to the chicken BBQ, grab
some pie and ice cream at the Historical
Society, and then head for the Home-Brew
contest. He was in the parade on Sat. morn-
ing with his cattle and then he just hung out
at the rec. field, gave rides, let people take
his picture with what ever animal they liked
of his, but the best part was just letting him
talk about small farms with that welcoming
grin and country drawl. He really under-
stood cattle, trained many oxen, made
yokes, and loved showing people how he
did it. He gave a lot of support to our small
fair and was the model we looked to every
year as we started planning the fair.
The Garland Days Family Fair will be
Sept. 9, 10, 11 this year. Bud won't be
there, but his spirit will. - JIM BUNN

Windsor
Fair
Princess
Rebekah Cox of Beals Island,
serves now as Windsor Fair’s 2010-
2011 Princess. She visited the 70th
annual Maine Agricultural Trades
Show in January and stood for this
picture. Behind her is a view of a
new building at Maine’s second
largest state fair next to Fryeburg.
She is the daughter of Mar-
tha and John Cox, Jr.
Farmers take note
Maine Highland Farmers are encour-
aged to join the Wellness Initiative
where no fee for vendors can garner
product sales in Greenville for sum-
mer events. Hours for selling are
Saturdays noon to 4 pm in July &
August. CA Dean Hospital will offer
publicity and farmers should contact
either Ken Tolman, P.A.-C or Jessica
Hargrove at 695-5215 email
kbtolman@yahoo.com
Your winter oh-vah?
Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture Early Spring 3
For more information on maine.gov or write Maine
the Alllagash dial207-941- Bureau of Parks & Lands,
season at Allagash 4014, web mail: 106 Hogan Road, Bangor,
Lake. Allagash Lake. heidi.j.johnson@ ME 04401
Allagash Lake. Say that
three times fast, as you
catch your fish next
year.
Ice fishing isn’t
the only activity that can
be done in the Allagash
Interesting facts: Forty eight per cent of
all Maine tourists are Mainers and this represents
Wilderness Waterway 28% of Maine’s GDP. In layman’s terms, Mainers
during the winter buy local.
months. Snowmobile There are 93 members in the Maine Sheep
trips into the AWW also
are a major use for us.
Association as reported in The Producer circulated
at Ag Trades Show in January. They seem to be
It’s common to see going out for business to recruit new members by a
groups go by as they plan to put out a new packet including a welcome
travel up to see the old letter, by-laws and calendar. Lifetime memberships
Tramway on Chamber- are available as well. Good deal if you like sheep.
lain and the locomotives Their wool pool will be held at the New England
on Eagle Lake, a popular Livestock Expo, May 20, 21, 22. See advertisement
winter destination. Other on page 15 for contact people regarding entering
The locomotives at Eagle Lake in winter activities that can be en- livestock in NELE.
(photo courtesy of Kevin Brown, AWW chief ranger)
joyed, which I personally Central Maine Sheep Association have
take advantage of, are not held a spring meeting yet and their wool pool
cross-country skiing and date will be at Dover Fairgrounds the 3rd Saturday
snowshoeing. Allagash in June.
By Christopher Silsbee
Mountain is a great
snowshoe for the more
hard-core winter recre-
UMCE held a Vegetable and Fruit School,
March 15 in Portland and the 16th in Bangor.
Deadline for getting in the $30 fee was March 1 to
Park Ranger, Chamberlain Bridge
ationalists. If winter hear guest speakers Dr Jude Boucher, UConn CE
Allagash Wilderness Waterway camping isn’t for you, and Dr Jonathan Franz a Research Horticultuist for
Nugent’s Camps sits right USDA-ARS New England Plant, Soil and Water
Most people are familiar with the Allagash Wilderness on the shore of Chamberlain Laboratory and he is based at UMaine, Orono. Top-
Waterway (AWW) as a unique, wild, and scenic waterway with Lake. These are beautiful ics taken up were High Tunnel Grafting, Pests, Overcom-
breath-taking views and the rich history from a century ago that housekeeping cabins that ing Barriers to Farming, Recon of Nutrient Deficiencies in
will keep you warm during
still can be seen. Most people come to the AWW to enjoy the lettuce, and “30 Reasons to Switch to Deep Zone Tillage”
those cold, winter nights. I among other neat dirt farming topics.
waterway’s canoeing and fishing opportunities, camping on its enjoy going around meeting
81 campsites, touring the history center at Churchill Dam, Kennebec and Somerset Conservation Dis-
fishermen and talking out tricts are taking orders for fruit trees to plant so if that is
What a lot of people aren’t familiar with is, on the ice. It’s really a great your farming interest. Go for it. Other state Districts offer
some of these attractions are just as unique when place. Being among great the same. Keep in touch with your local Farm Service
people who share the same Agency office in your county to learn more.
seen in the winter. Most sections of the waterway respect for the outdoors
are quiet during the winter, not true for February. Keep this newspaper keyed in to your farming
beauty and what it has to commodity interests for the PR we can provide. Our reach
February opens a special one month’s ice fishing offer. is gaining ground.
4 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture Early Spring 2011

Small World Like Cato, give his little senate laws,

and sit attentive to his own applause.
Welcome Mr Witcomb. Pope - Prologue to the Satire. Viva Libertad ?
I first met Colby Witcomb a number of years back and his Qui aurait cru il y a trois mois que l’année 2011
Mrs. Lois when called to shear some sheep Lois wanted The silence that accepts merit as the verrait un vent de démocratie souffler sur le Moyen
clipped. Colby was a soft spoken man and being hard of most natural thing in the world, Orient et l’Afrique du Nord ?
hearing I didn’t catch all he said upon that first meeting. La Tunisie, l’Egypte, et bientôt la Lybie voient leurs
The second year was better for a brief chat and that was that. is the highest applause. petites ou grandes dictatures s’effondrer comme des
He died within the bridge to the next shearing season. châteaux de sable, et ce qui est nouveau, par la seule
Emerson - An Address July 15, 1838 volonté de leurs peuples.
Son, Walter Whitcomb, is Maine’s new Ag Commissioner
and I like the choice this Governor has made to put him in
Comme une traînée de poudre, l’espoir de la
the seat. He comes with about 12 years of Legislative A company of tyrants is inaccessible démocratie se propage, amène des peuples à se rassem-
experience and a life of cattle farming. That to me seems a bler au cœur même de la cité, et en dépit du danger, à
to all seductions. défier courageusement leurs petits potentats, qu’on
damn good combination for not just milk interests in the
state but for our other crops as well. This is a Waldo County Voltaire - A Philosophical Dictionary. pensait indétrônables.
farmer and the soils of that county are among Maine’s best. Dans le contexte de la crise mondiale que nous
It is a difficult road to make good hay with ocean mists. vivons, cet élan des peuples du Moyen Orient vers la
And the men and women of the farming silk really have to Les habiles tyrans ne sont punis. démocratie est un formidable espoir pour eux là-bas, et
know their crafts and be quick about it. The tassles of the pour nous, ici, pays occidentaux, qui parfois, impuissants
leaves of good grass are a kind of silk to capture and bale. Clever tyrants are never punished.
capitulons trop facilement devant les nouveaux potentats
We expect good activity in Agriculture, while apparently
de la grande finance mondiale.
frugal on the state level and this choice after Seth Bradstreet Voltaire - Merope Ce petit cataclysme au Moyen Orient marque une
is a good follow up and augurs continued progress straight
ahead. Congratulations Walter Whitcomb and Maine Ag.
nouvelle page dans
l’Histoire. Espérons
The Middle East que cette graine de
- Established Summer 2008 - démocratie semée
The forces of nature are brilliant in the capacity to Sheep Market Publishing Co. germe là-bas et
rule life for all of us. Time is on all our sides, for the torment PO Box 632 Brownville, Me 04414 ici aussi !
of humanity prey to never learning how to live and let live.
The hassle of the collared force of man vs nature is not a Tel. 965-2332 Fabienne Prost
battle to fight. Historically, at the same time, this is also an pvsmilksheep@aol.com Paris, France
exciting period to be living through. It brings back to me the milksheep@myfairpoint.net Le 6 Mars 2011
marvel of the American 1960's where upon many street
corners stood a protestor. We Yanks are a mouthy group. Translation:
For our 2 cents, that is what the world needs, we thought
then and now, the locals right on back to those in power. A
Founding Publisher Wallace Sinclair Who would have
thought three months ago that
2011 would see a wind of
continued protesting and expressing one’s free opinion. That MainelyAgriculture Democracy blowing in the
is healthy. That is the most basic of all humankind rights. Middle East and North Africa?
A fundamental to a healthy body and soul. It gets old Mission Statement Tunisia, Egypt and Libya soon
see their small or large
quickly but it’s good to let it out, scream and shout. It is our volunteer mission dictatorships collapsing like
When the earth falls out from underneath you, keep to support and encourage sand castles, and what is new,
on protesting. Cry out, hang on and finish the ride to the end a vibrant and thriving re- by the will of their peoples.
turn to family farming / Like wildfire, the
of the mudslide. The next day might, could be, should be, forestry along with build- hope of Democracy is
sunny and warm. That’s living with the forces of nature ing a more healthy farm spreading, leading peoples to
congregate at the heart of the
from Mother Earth and our men and women merely players. infrastructure, a sustain- city, and despite the danger,
able and wider regional bravely defying their small
economy based upon ag-
The Japanese ricultural traditions hand-
dictators,
invincibles.
we thought

ed down for centuries. In the context of the

We can do very little to ease the pain and suffering Such agrarianism is in-
of the resilient Japanese at the juncture of both world history deed a culture at the same
time it is an economy.
and their history for the pending meltdown of one or more
We foster and support
of 4 nuclear reactors following the precedent setting earth such a local economy,
quake and tsunami. In this country our press called the state wide.
summer “spill” in the gulf the worst in “our” history. It is Editorial Contributors
and was the greatest oil spill in all history of a civilized Fabienne Prost
Emily Adams
world. Thus far, this year and the tail end of the last seem to
Bill Sawtell
make our globe indeed the global village Marshall McLuhan Gordon Moore
predicted. Diverse and unsettled but one family. Ellen MacMillan
Jack Strout
global crisis we are living, this
eagerness to Democracy of
Middle East peoples is a great
hope for them there, and for us
here, Western countries, which
sometimes capitulate too easily
to the new potentates of the
great global finance.
This cataclysm in
the Middle East marks a new
page in History. Hopefully that
this seed of democracy sprouts
there and here too!

In the field
Commissioner’s comments
Spring is closing in, the sap is running,
the snowpack is beginning to melt, and the Legis-
lature is in full swing. More than most depart-
ments, Conservation is tied closely to the seasons
of the year. The state’s economy is beginning to
grow again, although the continuing national re-
cession in housing construction has put a damper
on the lumber market. Maine’s volume of stand-
ing timber continues to grow as harvesting re-
mains below sustainable rates, which positions
Maine very well for anticipated rises in commod-
ity prices. We rank second in the nation in pulp
and paper production, and we are within striking
distance of becoming No. 1. We welcome the
challenge.
As our annual growth rates in the forests
continue to accelerate, our department’s team of
entomologists are tracking multiple threats from
invasive insects and disease, including an expanding
evidence of spruce budworm in Quebec, the origins
of our problems in the 1950s and 1970s. On the
firefighting front, our track record is exemplary, and
we continue to focus our resources on being aggres-
sive first responders with our fleet of Huey helicop-
ters.
That Maine has not had a single forest fire
over 1,000 acres in 20 years, coupled with aggres-
sive disease control, accelerating growth rate in the
forest and a stable working forest landmass of over
15 million acres augurs well for our rural economy.
Column by Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley
Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 5
800 trees this spring. This added about 1/3 as
much acreage to the sugar bush. These are mostly
Supplement
drums. His procedure forest grown trees and not ideal as sugar trees but
utilizes plastic tubing they are large trees and have relatively large
and piping which con- crowns. In time these crowns should spread out
centrates sap to several and increase the amount of sap that is produced by
large containers which each tree. After completing the cleaning he no-
By Gordon Moore he pumps into a transfer ticed areas which were not stocked with sugar
This time of year when the days get lon- container and takes maple. The landowner decided to purchase maple
ger, but the winter won’t let go, there is one down to his sugar trees to fill in the voids. We calculated about 40
hopeful sign of spring. The quietude of the winter house. Part of this oper- trees needed to fill in voids, based on a 35 foot by
woods is disturbed in certain parts by people ation is piped directly to 35 foot spacing for each tree. He didn’t just use
snowshoeing around where no human activity had the sugar house where any old tree but he did his homework and located
gone on for months. In the old days this activity there are several hold- sources for high sugar yielding Sugar Maple and
was in the form of preparing tap holes, tapping ing tanks for the sap. At Silver Maple. Yes, I said Silver Maple. He went
and hanging buckets. These days the activity is this operation sap is with the Silver Maple as the nursery which sold
mostly in the form of repairing plastic piping and boiled on a mid sized the trees claims that these trees will be capable of
getting ready to tap as many maple trees as possi- boiler fired with wood. producing very quickly. I hesitate to repeat the
ble in a short a period of time. The maple syrup He uses almost all claim of the nursery. Silver Maple thrives in
industry is awakening from a long down period. Northern White Cedar warmer climates than Sugar Maple. It’s very
to fire the boiler. He is interesting and if the claims prove to be true it
I started the write an article about the fortunate in that he has may revolutionize the industry.
changes in the production or syrup, but instead a fair sized ownership
I’m going to tell you just a bit about one producer with lots of cedar grow-
that I work with. This guy makes his living from ing on it. Recent im-
his farm and the sugar bush is a big part of his provements in the
yearly income. He’s not a large operation by woods included the
today’s standards but more of a mid-sized produc- cleaning (cutting of all
er. The big guys are putting in 50,000+ taps a mature timber except
season, and sending out bulk syrup in 35 gallon sugar maple) of several
drums. His procedure utilizes plastic tubing and acres. I think he is plan-
piping which concentrates sap to several large ning on tapping about
6 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture from horse-drawn sap

State’s largest sugaring

packcopnt collection and wood-
fired evaporation tech-
niques. The Larivières’
Supplement Eric Ellis, Manager purchased Maine Maple
Products, Inc. in 1993

is in Somerset County
from Raymond Tit-
comb of Farmington.
Ellis has worked full-
time for the company
since 1988, after gradu-
MADISON – The larg- art packaging equip-
ating from Thomas Col-
est wholesaler of maple ment and a delivery
lege with a B.S. in
products in Maine is route established over
Business Management.
Maine Maple Products 25 years that consists of
He had grown up in the
of Somerset County. friendly relationships
Farmington area and, in
They take syrup from than just business trans-
high school, assisted
their 80,000-tree sugar- actions. MMP packages
Titcomb in the maple
bush, add syrup from syrup in everything
orchard. After the
two other Maine sugar from boutique 1.36
Larivières purchased
makers, and produce ounce containers, larger
the business they leased
between 25,000 to plastic and specialty
the Titcomb location
30,000 gallons each glass sizes for consumer
then acquired the Madi-
year. The demand for and retail-gift markets,
son property in 1996
MMP’s products keeps five-gallon jugs for res-
and designed the pres-
about seven individuals taurants and bakeries
ent facility 12 years
employed year round, and 40-gallon stainless
ago, which includes an
including owners Marc steel drums to the
apartment at which the
and Hélène Larivière, wholesale markets.
Larivières stay during
their three sons, Jean- Most of their business is plement their crop. A [Big Six Township] car- ière split their time be- syrup in the course of the week to oversee op-
Pierre, Martin and Fabi- wholesale destined for network of pipes span- ries sap from 80,000 tween St. Zacharie, one day and with less erations. The Madison
en, company manager markets within Maine, ning 1,000 acres of trees along a network of Quebec and Madison labor,” according to El- plant is open 8-5,
Eric Ellis and sales supplying smaller pro- leased land in T7 R19 pipes up to three inches where the syrup is pack- lis. “Technology really Monday through Fri-
manager Don Yeaton. ducers seeking to sup- in diameter for a dis- aged in a range of con- has become the key to day, year round.
“There are few that can Maine Maple Products Inc. tance of up to two tainers before it is our industry.” The
say maple is their year-
Eric Ellis, Mgr. Don Yeaton, Sales miles. It passes through shipped to mostly Larivières’ home in St-
round livelihood,” ex-
449 Lakewood Rd, Madison04950 a handful of pump sta- Maine customers. “The Zacharie is less than ten
plains Ellis, who credits
MMP’s success to the 207-474-3887 tions, which are moni- 4,000 sq. ft. Madison miles from the sugar-
Call toll free: 1-800-310-3803 tored remotely by video packaging and distribu- bush. Hélène
use of technology such at the evaporator house tion facility boasts a Larivière’s grandfather
as reverse osmosis ma- info@mainemaple.com
where six reverse-os- new conveyor packag- started maple produc-
chines and state-of-the- www.mainemaple.com
mosis machines slash ing system acquired in tion in Big Six Town-
syrup production time. mid-2010 means “it will ship in the early 1900s
Marc and Hélène Lariv- process twice as much with a sugar camp that
Story content provided by sunburyexchange.com
Forest Service Calls for
Wood-To-Energy Project Aps
AUGUSTA– The Maine Forest Service (MFS),
under the Maine Department of Conservation, is
requesting applications for shovel-ready, wood-
to-energy conversion projects for funding through
federal recovery-act monies with not much lead
time. Aps due March 24.
Under the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 Wood to Energy
Grants Program, $2.7 million will be available as
grant funding for the installation of wood-energy
boilers to all Maine public entities or parties with
public buildings, including schools, hospitals, state,
county, cities and towns and tribal governments.
“This program provides opportunities for
small, wood-to-energy projects even as Maine looks
at large-scale, high-tech conversions,” Commission-
er Bill Beardsley, of the Maine Department of Con-
servation, said. “Testing multiple techniques with
successful demonstrations in these smaller projects
offers opportunities for replication in every town in
Maine.” Eleven awards have been won in Maine
since the grant came about under the recovery act.
“We are pleased to be able to offer this
federal grant money to applicants around the state,”
Donald Mansius, MFS acting state forester, said.
“This program offers an important opportunity for
Maine to create and retain jobs and to demonstrate
its leadership in renewable energy. Converting to
wood heat should allow successful applicants to
realize significant cost savings, keep the fuel dollars
they do spend circulating in the Maine economy and
help reduce Maine’s dependency on foreign fossil
fuels.” See:
http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/arra/pages/rd_3_pre_a
pplication_info.html Or email Thomas C Wood, MFS
senior planner at ARRA Public Building Wood-to-Energy
Program, (207) 287-3920 wood2energy@maine.gov
Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 7
Innovating Sapper retires
SKOWHEGAN - The only Mainer to ever be Maple Hall of Fame in May 2001. He had been
inducted into the Maple Hall of Fame in Croghan, the Maine Maple Producers Association delegate
NY, Robert S. Smith of Skowhegan, retired in (he was MMPA president for three, non-consecu-
2010 after selling his business to Kevin and Kristi tive, two-year terms) on the North American Ma-
Brannen’s Spring Break Maple and Honey of ple Syrup Council (serving as its president; the
Smyrna Mills, which included maple candy client first Mainer to do so) and also served on the
accounts like retail giant L.L. Bean. International Maple Syrup Institute.
When he started in 1964, syrup retailed There is still a future in maple syrup
for $6 a gallon, No. 2 fuel oil was 12 cents a production, he says. Anytime is a good time to get
gallon and he rented 1,800 roadside taps in the into it. Consumers are becoming more educated
Skowhegan region for 25 cents apiece. That first and the market is expanding.
year resulted in 400 gallons using a five- by four-
Robert S. Smith
teen-foot, oil-fired, fire-brick-lined, masonry arch
evaporator (used until 1990) based on a design by 1980s, he added litho-
C.O. Willits and constructed in a sap house, about graphed tin packaging
1,000 feet from their home in downtown and plastic.
Skowhegan. It produced three to four gallons of He ceased the
syrup an hour. The side business dovetailed nicely Skowhegan-area taps in
with his work as a land surveyor and consulting 1990 and, that year,
forester, because those jobs slacked off in the leased 12,000 taps for
months of March and April when maple produc- 20 cents each from In-
tion is at its busiest. ternational Paper in Mainely Agriculture
He bought 1,800 16-quart metal buckets northern Somerset Can now accept Word Pad 2000
for 80 cents each (with covers for another 25 County. He made 3,000
news releases,
cents) and dumped the sap-filled buckets into two, gallons that first year requests for advertising, Etc.
250-gallon gathering tanks he transported on a and would never exceed
milksheep@myfairpoint.net
tandem U-Haul trailer he rented seasonally. Later, that again. The poorest
he acquired a used creamery truck with a bulk year was 1,400 gallons.
tank and pumped sap for about a mile along one- He invested about
inch plastic pipe using a gasoline-powered pump. $250,000 in equipment
He adopted reverse-osmosis technology and had one reverse-os-
in the 1970s. Maple-candy production started in mosis machine. He op-
1974 and grew to a 70-store market mostly along erated there until 2003
the Maine coast. Sales of syrup and maple candy and sold the lease in
to just L.L. Bean were about $87,000 by the late 2005 to Jacques Roy.
1980s. A gallon of syrup makes 7.5 lbs. of candy.
He was in-
Packaging started as cans and, by the ducted into the
8 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture

From field to fork and glass this farm does it all

E ach farm year begins in the woodlot and
B arry, wife Mary and son B.J.
fields. At Maple Lane that tradition continues. Higgins (who is the 4th generation) are
Maine weather requires the key people in the family farm for
ample fuel for heating a decision making and are quick to point
farm house, a large meat out the characteristics of this diverse op-
processing plant and eration and how one season melts into
milk parlor there in another. Most people know that milking
Charleston. Maple Lane
men harvest 50 cord each
year just for that purpose
and the daily tending of Slaughter, skinning and offal Chester Sawyer
80+ milkers requires 12 The meat cutters at Ma-
cord of sawdust a week to keep young stock, pigs,
beef comfortable. Maple Lane Farm harvests removal is done very quickly Barry Higgins
ple Lane Farms know
how to break down beef.
thousands of square and round bales as that is In the past, when they
extra cash flow and controls all fodder for their
With power lifts to protect the have occasionally hired
part-time help, they
have discovered that
meat. And then rolled into a box cutters with experi-
ence cutting boxed beef

Chill cooler immediately

have “no idea how to
break down a beef.”
“That’s getting to be a
lost art, too. Says Barry,
meat livestock and overall farm activities A view of a second new barn and feed- It’s hard work.”
month to month. Next to Charleston Correc- ing livestock. Pigs and cattle are com- Their busiest season is
fortable here in partitioned quarters. August to the middle of
tional Facility, Maple Lane Farms is the second
largest employer in town of local men and January. They process
cows is 7 days a week. Employees take care of 50 beef per week. It
women in the various trades needed to milk
the cows on shifts with BJ and Barry helping in slows to eight or ten per
the feeding of both the milkers and the replace- week in the off-season.
ment animals. Good feed, translates to good “At times it is stressful
milk and good beef. Maple Lane Farms controls to keep up with the
all fodder from harvest to stomachs and like our- growth. You have to
selves, the quality of the feed promises better continually change the
An 8 month MLF Holstein dressed out
results. For all animals. way you do business to
at 796 # shown with skinner Webster
Young II keep up with it. This
It could be said that Maple Lane Farms has the fall, September 15, we
cure for what ails the beef industry. “One of the had all of our orders
keys to our success with beef has been we don’t caught up. We had all
put a knife in anything until it has hung at least our beef orders filled.
cows, cut wood, cut up meat, split wood, har- two weeks. Makes a tremendous difference,” says Our freezer orders and
vest and deliver hay to other farmers. They also Barry by pre-cool hot hanging beef and pork so forth and we knew
raise about 500 acres of corn and 100 acres of before it goes into the holding cooler. we had to get those
barley for feeding and sell the excess throughout cleaned up because of
eastern Maine. The family farm raises beef and moose season
hogs and soon will set up a large show ring to
B.J. Higgins
coming at the end of the
display horse and cattle roping activities of vari-
ous Maine and out of state clubs needing a new
regional facility to hold meets. This agritourist
investment follows the most recent new barn con-
struction to house more livestock for increasing
retail sales of home grown meat. Meat demand at
Maple Lane Farms increases month to month and
by example, January is usually a very slow and
this year was as busy as cutting is during hunting
season. Meat customers are particular to the
Higgins brand and are willing to wait for the cuts
and acknowledge that what they receive is grown
on the farm. This is a story of the rebirth of family
farming in Maine; involving the public directly
showing cause and effect of food on the table. Chilled, hung, skinned Maple Lane meat
 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 9

meat, milk, hay & Ag events Maple Lane workers fabricated

a cooler door saving many dollars in
manufactured
purchasing
to do it We’ve promised
them a hundred head of
cattle to use to practice
their clinics and to have
actual shows here.
. They pen cattle on
Fresh Roast Smoked hams , (top) smoked
horseback. They do this
month. Moose season came on and there’s also--I Pork, (right photo) at four fairs in the state,
call it--pig season, people start slaughtering their Farmington, Windsor,
At that point, the whole meat industry in the State
hogs and people get their meat ready for the Skowhegan and Ban-
of Maine was declining. That’s when Bangor
winter. Fall’s the time they do that. So from Sep- gor.” This will be their
Beef went out of business. Alco Packing went out
home base, here. We’ll
tember 15th until mid-December we weren’t able of business. Swift left Bangor.
build an arena between
to slaughter any of our own beef. The only thing Rather than a local meat industry, it went to a
now and the middle of
we slaughtered was we had to take care of a small regional one. That’s when the boxed beef busi-
May. “
wholesale business we have. So, by mid-Decem- ness actually got really popular. We decided in
ber, we had somewhere between 45 and 50 beef the late ’80s to shut our store down and go back to
just custom beef and went from a good sized “[It’s a] major ex-
sold and customers waiting. Some of them had
business to a small business and started building pense for us. It’s kind of
been waiting since the end of September. They are
our freezer business with sides and quarters, sell- In addition to meat and dairy, Maple Lane Farm getting us into agri-
addicted to what we do. We got all remaining promotes their hay and silage business with the following
ing to locals and we’ve grown from that. We built tourism a little bit.
orders filled by the end of the month. January facts. “It’s a very diversified farm we’re running here.”
this building in ’06 and the place has just kind of We’re expecting horses
2011 throughout the rest of the year orders are “Last year 77,000 squares and about 1,200 round bales.
taken off. We’ve built something here every year especially out of eastern
filled weekly . Between corn and grass--we chopped a lot of grass, too--
since our original building. We expanded our and hay, we farmed about sixteen hundred acres” in four Canada, as well as
livestock-holding facilities in ’07. And then in ’08 towns. many from Maine, New
we added a freezer and some extra storage area. In reference to a door Maple Lane Farm con- York state, New Hamp-
structed for the chill room, “When we set this up, I knew shire and Vermont. It’s
And then, in 2009 and 2010, we started our new what I wanted for a door and what the dimensions were
“When I graduated from high school we built a a large organization in
processing room, and 2 new coolers. We’re still and this door was going to cost me between four and five
pretty good retail market on raw milk. And, actu- the state here. They
growing at a pretty fast rate, about 30 percent on thousand dollars. Between my son and the guy I’ve got in
ally, there was a delivery route where we did have a hundred and for-
all species last year [2010] over the year before, the shop, the carpenter, we built this door. We built it for
several stores. And then Chester, my head meat about sixteen hundred. This is not a factory door. This was ty, fifty members and
except for deer. We were up a little on deer, but
cutter, had some meat-cutting experience. He was manufactured right here on the farm.” They build most of they have about eight
everything else was up at least 30 percent.”
milking cows for me. So we were selling milk out their buildings with very little outside help. events every year. Four
“When the customer comes in here, they’re
of the milk room in gallon jugs and had a pretty In 2010, they processed 177 moose and of them would be here.”
impressed with the cleanliness and sanitation we
good customer base. So we set up a room in my about 350 deer. Our objective is to get
have here. And I hear that over and over and over
dad’s cellar--a cutting room--and had our beef as many riders, as many
again. And the other thing we’ve done--I don’t
slaughtered at a federally inspected slaughter- people, here as we can.
know if we came onto it by mistake, or what--but
house. And we brought it back, cut it here, pack- We need good cattle fa-
the cure in what we’re using on our smoking on
aged it in Styrofoam trays, and sold it out of the cilities. “The more peo-
our bacon and our hams--we actually smoke a few
milk room on an honor system. People could “We’re going to build a ring here, ple we draw, the more
top round beef roasts-has come out fantastic. We
come in, take what they wanted, put money on the 100 by 200 for Central Maine Team Penning successful we’ll be.”
use our own, secret cure and we use hickory
refrigerator and away they went. That’s how we to come to Charleston.“ The animals
sawdust to do our smoking with. We put in a
actually started back in ’70. We went from there “Team penning is when they come in will be three to seven
state-of-the-art smoker, all computerized so every
to building a processing room over in our shed. with a team of three horses and they pen cattle on hundred pounds live
batch comes out the same. weight. It is not
Built a cooler off the back of the building. We horseback. We’re going to supply a place for them
That’s been a big hit, something
started out state inspected and went to federal.”
Milking parlor 2x6 our smoking. We start- just anyone
Then in the mid-80s ed smoking in April of could do.
the family lost a grandfa- 2010 [when] the first Maple Lane
ther clause and had to batch of smoking ran Farms
buid a new building. “We through. We got our currently has
Photo by Mary Lord

had a store on the farm at cure recipe to the point about 250
that point. We sold meat where it seems to meet head of beef
out of the store and milk everybody’s tastes. It’s cattle on feed..
and so forth. not too salty, not overly
That was a time when all smoked, but smoky Stop in
the stores went to a meat enough, and quite & visit.
program. Before the sweet and it seems to
Hannafords and all those be a hit with everyone Family Effort - Left to Right, Kylie, Mary, Brandon, Randa ,B.J.,
had the big meat program. who has tried it.” Barrett, McKenna, Barry, Amy & Mike.
10 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture

Bees. Trees. Hay. Supplement

Maple Products.
Steaming sap house
& summer hay

Defines Aroostook Farm

Four Pine
150 years old Fresh
cut near Maple Candy
Baxter harvest hay. While hay
Kevin Brannen
Park netted Logging takes a back seat at this time of has a limited window
9800 board
feet sold to
the year. When March comes around for Kevin, and weather influence,

Spring Break Honey and Maple Taps all Resources Robbins

Lumber of
Searsmont
The relationship logging has with sap
collection starts with the universality of woodlots
that many farmer capitalize upon with a studied
stewardship. Kristi and Kevin Brannen of Smyr-
na have taken some 40 acres of young growth
rock maple and gardened the trees and their equip-
ment to drill 3500 taps that deliver from a pint to full advantage of re- to her husband that he
a quart of syrup per tap, after processing. Last verse osmosis machin- tap some trees one
year was great with the average of over a quart ery that shortens the March day as logging
finished syrup per tap. They make good use of a time it takes to boil had a hiatus has brought
south facing sugar bush, half of which is high down the liquid into thethe couple to invest in
ground gravity fed deliver to the sap house where various products they equipment, various
the sap is easily collected. Compared to the days produce. style pipeline and ma-
of the past with cans hanging from a tree method chinery that make their
of the last century, theirs is a mix of storage What began as operation a well re-
capacity, gravity lines and vacuum flows with the a sort of hobby in 1998 spected business.
when Kristi suggested
Smyrna, ME 04780
maple refinery is one of the important businesses. the large number of
hives Kevin maintains
Last year they bought out Bob Smith’s has a wholly different
Maine Maple Candy name and some equipment. routine coming when it
This agreement is also matched with a new deal- does within haying sea-
ership the couple maintains for Leader Evaporator son. The hay they make
Company and they represent Sugar Hill, the syrup is purchased by a local
container company with an inventory for fellow cattle farmer and the
producers. farm usually gets 250-
In his logging contractor work Kevin 300 large round bales
uses a 753 John Deere Fellerbuncher with a 20 from about 70 acres of
inch Wartah Saw head. The trees shown here fields on the lower side
were too large for the slasher so they were bucked of the Brannen lands.
by a chainsaw, but the old growth trees from Usually hay is not har-
Huber lands demonstrate Kevin’s ability to har- vested until the clover
vest inside protected lands. has peaked to allow the
honeybees opportunity
While haymaking and collecting sap to harvest the nectar.
have defined seasons, collecting honey and bee The farm gives sugar bush
keeping has direct influence on how the Brannens’ tours in Maple Season
and is open on weekends
from 10-3 and weekdays
from 10-4 pm.

Visit & order on line

www.mainemapleandhoney.com
New to Mainely Agriculture...
Farm/Home planning notes, chats, gardening, needs, misc..
MOFGA & MPBN report Maine’s State
Vet Don Hoenig saying he doesn't know
exactly how many southern rescue dogs
arrive in Maine every year, but he estimates
it's in the thousands. One option he's con-
sidering is to require all rescue groups im-
porting dogs to use only USDA-licensed
transporters--something that would make it
easier to monitor the dogs coming into the
state.
Meanwhile, to try to get a better picture,
he sent out an email to all Maine vets,
"asking for input on whether they'd seen
animals that had gotten sick or died, or
arrived here in a debilitated condition, be-
cause I'm just trying to build up some real
facts rather than anecdotes."
"I've certainly seen a number of folks
with the best of intentions adopt unhealthy
dogs through private rescue groups, only to
discover that they were sorely lacking in
healthcare," says Dr. Amanda Rizner, who
works at South Berwick Veterinary Hospi-
tal in York County added.
Consumer Fact:
Maine people spend $4 billion per year on food,
most of which goes directly out of state (the second
largest consumer expense in Maine behind energy
spending). Farmers want to keep more food dollars
local. and new activity in winter farming is the key.
Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 11
Get Real, Get Maine
.
Maine State Grange News
W Farmington Grange
Our activities each quarter
It is time to update your Agriculture. We get ul to find local vendors The “Changing Face of Agriculture In Franklin County”
information on the free thousands of visits to of food products, state- as seen through a series of slides depicting some 20
local farms and farmers will be the focus of a public
promotional web site, the web site and con- wide. New vendors are gathering at the West Farmington Grange at 7:30 pm on
www.getrealmaine.com sumers find the site use- encouraged to join in. Saturday , March 19. Grange member, journalist and
If you want your infor- photographer Jo Josephson has taken the title of her
mation to be included in presentation from Clarence Day’s “Farming in Maine
this years FOOD AND For the Kitchen: 1860-1940” published by the University of Maine Press.
FARMS promotional In his introduction, Day wrote: “Constant adaptation to
constant change – that is both the key to and summary
booklet, please update of farming in Maine.” Josephson adds, it is also the key
before Friday, MARCH to its success. In her slide presentation, Josephson
18 and login on the pro- weaves photographs of local farmers at work with statis-
ducer login tab with tics to make the claim that agriculture is not dying in
your LOGIN ID: and Franklin County, it is merely “changing its face.” High
PASSWORD and tech embryonics, greenhouses, value-added turkey and
beef products, organic pepper jams, breads and cheese
make any changes or are but some of the new faces of Maine agriculture, says
additions to your busi- Josephson, Refreshments will be homemade pie with a
ness information. If scoop of ice cream! The public is invited to attend and
your information is cor- there is no charge for this event. FMI: call Wes Marble
rect as is , please let us @778-6968
know by email April 9. Ham and Baked beans supper and the
to:mailto:info@getreal return of the Abbott Hill Wanderers! This is a great high
maine.com If you are school group playing American Roots and Country mu-
having problems, we sic. You’ll love them! Supper at 5:30PM, $6 each. Show
at 7PM, $6 each. Supper and show together, only $10
have a help line avail-
each.Bangor Grange hall, 1192 Ohio St. Bangor. Call
able until March 18. Get Rolf at 973-3976
your farm promoted ful-
ly Get Real Maine is a Jacksonville Grange #358 will be having a public
Turkey dinner with all the fixings on June 19 at noon.
free promotional web at the Jacksonville Grange Hall. Adults $7.00 children
site sponsored by the under 12 $4.00.
Maine Department of Maine Maple: Beyond Pancakes (2007) by
Elizabeth G. Hodgkins and published by the
Will the lady who Maine Maple Producers Assoc. is available from
a number of maple producers. The collection of
Submitted a Garlic 179 favored maple recipes from Maine cooks and
Story resubmit it? chefs includes toppings, glazes, sauces, appetiz-
Computer Crash ers, beverages, cereals, breads, meat, fish, poultry,
Evaporated it. baked beans, soups and main dishes, vegetables,
salads and desserts.
- the Publisher
12 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture Only 100% wood--no additives--gets
forced through the pellet die in Athens
Very well regarded Supplement

Maine Woods Pellet brings in clients with quality

As more pellet boilers come on line in which pellet to buy, we’ve picked up recent-
Maine, chances are Maine Woods Pellet Co., used to warn consumers ly, wouldn’t have sold
LLC (MWPC) in Athens is supplying the fuel. against using the then- our pellets before. Now,
Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor will be adding problematic Athens pel- its pretty much all they
another 15,000 tons per year to the demand for lets. sell.”
MWPC’s pellets when their boiler, fired by pul- But by 2009, the com- Nowadays MWPC
verized pellets, is expected to reduce their heating pany “changed their exceeds expectations, in
fuel by over 1 million gallons. Each sealed, dry- formula, they changed part, by striving for ash
bulk pneumatic tanker load will deliver the equiv- their process, and they content and levels of
alent of 4,000 gallons of heating oil. came out of it with a fines closer to super-
MWPC has the capacity to produce up to superior product,” says premium standards than
100,000 tons of pellets annually. Its abundant Curtis, who has used the premium certifica-
supply of raw material from their sister company, nothing but MWPC pel- tion would suggest. Pellet testing machine
Linkletter & Sons, and state-of-the-art pellet mill lets in his own home, “We just label it as pre-
Scot Linkletter standing in front of
However, some com-
and recommended them mium and let people be
pellet mill located in Athens. peting brands do add
to his customers ever surprised how good a
equipment contribute to the company’s claim as vegetable oil, which in-
since. premium pellet it is,”
Maine’s largest pellet mill. Another plus for hom- creases production but
There are a lot of says Linkletter, who
eowners is the company sells directly to consum- generates an odor when
opinions like the regularly tests the pel-
ers and also accepts pellet bags for recycling, as burned, as well as plas-
Curtis’s that did an lets on site. The compa-
long as they are empty and made of LDPE 4 tic resin.
about face, said Linklet- ny also has samples by
plastic, whether they are MWPC bags or not. Pellet production in
ter, “A lot of the bagful tested by a
2010 was down because
(distributors) of the ones UMaine wood science
Launched in 2007, MWPC struggled with its demand was low, which
Pellets, still warm to the touch professor and sends a
pellet quality through 2008. Pellet stove sellers Linkletter thinks might
smaller sample to Wis-
like Mac and Sherrie Curtis at Wayne’s Stove & be because the price of
consin for testing by a
& Canoe in nearby heating oil did not in-
lab certified by the Pel-
Skowhegan, who have crease a lot at the begin-
let Fuels Institute. ning of heating season.
never sold pellets but
were often consulted by But pellets make eco-
One of the test factors nomic sense even if
their customers on Mac & Sherrie Curtis is the Btu of energy per heating oil prices were
pound. MWPCs range $2.50 per gallon
“The way pellets should be” from 8,200 to 9,000. “You’d still be saving a
Customers comment lot with pellets,” notes
on the shiny hardness of Linkletter, citing a Fuel
MWPC pellets and ask Value Calculator devel-
whether something was oped by the USDA For-
added. “There’s nothing est Service, Forest
but wood going in and Products Laboratory
wood going out,” says and Pellet Fuels Insti-
Linkletter. Lignin in the tute.
wood that has melted News content supplied by
during production and sunburyexchange.com
cooled acts as a natural
glue with a shiny, hard Mainely
coating. Agriculture is
dropped at many
southern Maine
Irving stations.
Auburn,
9 a.m. to 4 p.m
Home
deliveries
Grandpa Joes Sugarhouse nch
Farmington,
Kittery, and
s t and lu a y s . .
Available (207) 653-3647 or 207 787-3300 break
f a
both
d selected Mass, &
d a y s and b a r b e c u e New Hampshire
103 Murch Road both the
music o u t s i d e o n
refueling sites
Contact Maine Wood Pellets for a dealer near you: East Baldwin, ME 04024 cooke
d syrup, cotton candy, by the good
maple candy, maple drivers of:
207-654-2237 www.mainewoodspelletco.com baldwin sugarmakers@hotmail.com Needhams, maple pop-
Hartt Trucking,
www.grandpajoes.net corn, maple-coated nuts,
& other maple products Bangor, Maine
 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 13
Project Canopy Offers Arbor The Project Canopy
grant funding can be
ledged as part of the
Maine Forest Service’s
Maine’s forest indus-
Week Tree-Planting Grants
AUGUSTA – Project
Supplement
can learn important les-
try has a $10 billion im-
pact on Maine’s
used to purchase and
plant one tree or several
trees of the school’s
annual Arbor Week cele-
bration, May 16-20. The
application deadline is 5
together and celebrate sons about value of our economy and employs choice. The plantings can
Canopy, the Maine For- p.m., Friday, April 29.
one of Maine’s most forest land and make more than 20,000 Main- be dedicated to Arbor
est Service’s communi- valuable natural re- significant connections ers. Green-industry jobs Week or to an individual
ty forestry program, is sources – our trees and to our ecology through account for an addition- FYI Project Canopy
who is significant to the
offering grants to Maine forests,” Santerre said. the simple act of plant- al 8,000 jobs in Maine, school. The school proj- http://project
schools to plant trees on “Trees help cleanse the ing trees at their own and that number is ects will be acknow- canopy.maine.gov.
school grounds as part Project Canopy di- air we breathe and the schools and watching growing.
of the 2011 Arbor Week rector. water we drink, while them grow.”
celebration and in rec- “Every year during the beautifying the commu-
ognition of Maine’s re- third full week of May, nities where we live.
nowned forest industry. students and adults join Maine schoolchildren
Some 20 grants,
amounting to a maxi-
mum of $1,000 each, The Maine Agency of
are available for Maine
schools through fund-
Farm Family Insurance
ing from the USDA
Forest Service-Urban We have an agent near you.
and Community Forest-
ry Program and corpo- Mike Fitzpatrick Miller Associates Andy Daigle
309 Main Street 636 US Rt One Box 7 400 Main Street
rate sponsors, according Brewer Scarborough Madawaska
to Jan Ames Santerre, 207-989-8880 207-510-6301 207-728-4348

Also in so Maine Ron Kofstad Ralph Russo Randy Lincoln

26 Rice Street 2 Main Street 24 North Street
you can find Presque Isle Richmond Houlton
Mainely 207-764-5645 207-737-4200 207-532-2016

Agriculture at Tom Foster Jane Nelson Eric Hart

Dan Foster 913 Main Street John Hell
Steve's General 659 Church Hill Rd Vassalboro 20 Main Street
Store, Oxford Augusta 207-680-2520 Livermore Falls
207-622-4646 800-839-4435 207-897-2500
Paris Farmer's
Union, Bridgton Greg Warren Amy Lear Patrick McLaughlin
Village Tieup, 60 Main Street 269 Atlantic Highway P O Box 32
Bucksport Warren Alfred
Harrison 207-469-7322 207-691-2695 207-490-0918
Jordan's Store, 800-593-1935
Sebago
Whistle Stop
General Store, www.farmfamily.com
East Baldwin
14 Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture

industry have also resulted in difficulties. The

Supplement
difficulties chip burners have with chips might
A Maine Debate have more to do with the infeed systems associat-
ed with chip burners than the chip burners them-

Chips vs Pellets
selves, according to Eric Kingsley of Innovative
Natural Resource Solutions, LLC of Portland
which wrote the fuel specification that was ex-
pected to be released in mid-Feb. for the boiler
By Emily Adams Colby will be installing. Suppliers will likely
come from within a certain radius of Waterville;
preferably, but not necessarily, within 50 miles.
Two more Maine projects will wean their
The heat content of the two fuels is 16.2MM Btu
use of about 1 million gallons of heating oil each
per ton for pellets versus 8.5MM Btu per ton for
and create demand for woody biomass this year,
50 percent moisture chips, according to Dwyer,
but one will burn wood chips while the other is
and that the combustion efficiency of pellets at
siding with dry, refined wood. Jackson
Jackson Lab will be 85 percent versus an estimat-
Laboratory’s pellet system in Bar Harbor is ex-
ed (if lucky) for a wet chip burner. Attempts to
pected to start making steam at the end of March
reach the Colby project’s engineer, Chris Shum-
and Colby College in Waterville broke ground in
way of Rist-Frost-Shumway, P.C. [RFS] directly-
February on an add-on to their existing plant.
for this report were not successful because of his
Jackson Lab will buy 15,000 tons of pellets a year
schedule, but, emailing through an office repre-
from Maine Woods Pellet Co., LLC, confirms Wood slices on water
sentative, he indicated that the heat-content and
plant manager Scot Linkletter. Theodore Zafiropoulos photo,
Skowhegan School of Art combustion-efficiency issues are well document-
The highly processed pellets will be
process. ed in the industry and are not subject to engineer-
transported in sealed, dry-bulk pneumatic tankers of pellet systems and
Until now, Colby has been buying an ing opinion and he noted that
(the equivalent of 4,000 gallons of heating oil), the higher heat content
average of 1 to 1.2 million gallons of No. 6 Bun- combustion-efficiencies are published (and certi-
blown through a flexible hose into a storage silo, and combustion effi-
ker C oil to supply heat and hot water to a little fied) by equipment manufacturers. RFS does not
then pulverized into dust which is combusted ciency of pellets. Wet
over 1.4 out of 1.5 million gross square feet, advocate one source of biomass – or any other –
using Swedish technology. Jackson Lab is expect- wood chips will have to
according to Libby. The college expects to reduce fuel over another and has a pre-set opinion, or
ed to offset the annual consumption of 1.2 million meet certain specifica-
their oil consumption by about 90 percent--up to vested interest, in the application of wood chips
gallons of fuel oil, according to a Nov. 2010 blog tions published in mid-
1 million gallons. Colby has also been co-generat- versus refined wood, and that every project has
on the website of Kevin Freeman, a director of Feb. by Innovative Nat-
ing electricity (to the tune of 600 kilowatts per specific and unique drivers.
business development at Pizzagalli Construction ural Resource Solu-
hour) and plans to co-generate in the future. Mid- Dwyer notes that the Colby system, which is an
Company, which is construction manager for the tions, LLC of Portland.
dlebury has their chips dumped directly into a add-on to existing infrastructure, will cost $11.5
Colby project, too. Pellets arrive at a pellet
storage container, sorted (larger chips are shred- million and produce 27,000 lbs. of steam per hour
The technology is a pulverized wood boiler site already mea-
ded in a grinder) and superheated to emit gas that compared to $4.2 million for Jackson Lab’s stand-
pellet-fired boiler system with a steam turbine that sured for things like
is ignited to over 1100 degrees to heat water for alone, fully independent boiler facility that will
is expected to reduce the firm’s heating costs by moisture content, ash
campus use and turn turbines that generate 20 produce 40,000 lbs of steam per hour. Libby’s
$700,000 a year and its electricity costs by content, sulfur, Btu’s
percent of the campus electricity. Colby plans to response to the observation that Jackson Lab will
$200,000 a year. Colby will use 22,000 tons of per pound, chlorine,
avert problems created by frozen chips that clog be making 1.5 times the steam for nearly one-third
wood chips, according to mechanical engineer density, fines, and dura-
the system and do not gasify well by constructing the capital expense is that each application has its
Paul Libby, the college’s assistant director for bility, which is why
a storage area holding three days supply of chips merits and that each needs to be weighed against
operations and maintenance. The kinds of compa- Linkletter says chips are
heated from underneath the pile by diverting heat all costs and specific operational needs. Colby is
nies positioning to compete for Colby’s business to pellets what crude oil
produced by the plant. The price of clean, wet aware that Middlebury really struggled, perhaps
might be suppliers like Carrier Chipping, Plum is to refined fuel oil.
wood chips is about $55 per ton and refined, dry because they got out of the sweet spot for the
Creek and Cousineau as well as sawmills. The low cost of wet
wood goes for $160 per ton, as of Feb. 2011, manufacturer and is trying to learn from a lot of
Colby will be following the lead of, and wood chips make chip
according to Leo Dwyer of Reciprocal Energy of the problems that other people had concerning the
improving on, the experience of Middlebury Col- systems look attractive,
Sandwich, NH, which is coordinating the Jackson delivery and handling of chips.
lege by using a wood chip gasification system but the price per Btu is
Lab project. Dwyer cautions end users from being The Maine examples will also be able to
manufactured by Chiptec Wood Energy Systems what you’ve got to wor-
confused by the low cost of chips.. They need to use No. 6 fuel to top off demand during the cold
of Vt. During full operation, Middlebury daily ry about. The pellet mill
consider the lower capital and maintenance costs months and for back up when maintenance occurs.
Receives two to three live bed truckloads of chips is owned by Linkletter
Content by sunburyexchange.com
that, ideally, are two & Sons whose raw ma-
inches square with a terial also ends up as
moisture content of 50 wood chips and the
percent or less com- feedback they get leads
posed of any kind of Linkletter to conclude
wood, according to a that chip burners are
five-minute video at way more picky than
www.middlebury.edu/ pellet burners and that
sustainability that illus- experiments using clean
trates the Middlebury chips used in the paper

Kitchen Licensing
Workshop. - March 17
from 6:30 to 9:00 pm at
Houlton High School.
Co-sponsored by MOF- with Natural Resource As-
GA and sessments garnered 250 re-
Southern
spondents and over 90%
Aroostook Soil and Wa-
identified which part of the
ter Conservation Dis- Kennebec Watershead they
trict. For those
reside and half controled
interested in processing
less than 5 acres. Home
owners numbered 82 %
food at home for resale.
Contact: SASWCD, with 2% having shorefront
lots. Just under 10% farmed
532-2097, Ext. 3, or
and 23% said they hobby
angela.wotton@me.nacdn
farmed..
et.net
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Mainely Agriculture endorses this fine AG event. Please Attend.
)KXKPIQWTHCTOUVJGUWRRQTVVJG[FGUGTXG
2Sons Alpaca Farm
Superior Customer Support
Ricki & Randall Waltz- Owners
38 Russell Lane
Damariscotta, ME 04543
207-557-5650
www.twosonsalpacafarm.com
Kennebec & Somerset “Maple Mania in June”
Make plans now
Soil/Water News
A recent survey concerned
FARMINGTON--The
first annual Maple Ma-
nia maple festival will
be held June 9-11, 2011
at the campus of the
University of Maine at
Farmington. The three-
day event will be mar-
keted to sugar makers to
offer technical sessions,
a trade show, and visits
to local sugar houses.
Until now, the most
popular such event has
been in Vermont. Since
Vermont leads the top
Changes in
Wool futures
USDA's Agricultural Mar-
keting Service (AMS) is
partially funding the pur-
chase and installation of
equipment in a wool pro-
cessing facility to develop
B6N'%!'&!''
base layer garments for the
U.S. Army. The U.S. Army
has provided the U.S. wool
industry with a two year
$750,000 Small Business
Innovation Research
(SBIR) grant to develop do-
HVaZh mestically produced proto-
type military Extended Cold
Ndji]6Xi^k^i^Zh Weather Clothing System
BVg`ZiAVbWHVaZ Generation III base layer
garments from a form of
:YjXVi^dcVaEgd\gVbh washable wool that is resis-
8dbbZgX^VaIgVYZh]dl tant to melting and ignition.
>7<67dZg<dViH]dl This project became possi-
ble through a $400,000 US-
GVWW^iH]dl DA Wool Trust Grant made
;^WZg6gih6gZV by AMS that partially fund-
>cXajY^c\/6aeVXV! ed the purchase and installa-
H]ZZeEn\dgV<dVih tion of the equipment in the
Chargeurs Wool USA wool
processing facility. This fa-
0D
LQH%HH
I cility is producing washable
wool top which can be used
for a variety of domestically
produced wool products
3U

RF
G
XF V
R
H U V  $ V that are already reaching the
market.
Chargeurs Wool USA is
the last wool processing
plant in the United States
selling high quality and
high value wool used for
clothing manufacturing.
If the project is successful
and the U.S. Army transi-
tions to wool-based under
garments, the 82,000 do-
mestic sheep producers
across the country may see
that United States maintains
a domestic wool processing
industry.
Logging - Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture 15
money log.(The maple
producers slang for the
craft of sugaring.)
For those tapping a
few rock maple and
have done so all their
three U.S. maple pro- . Just beginning your the 80,000 tree produc- lives such maple stands
ducers again again last garner good syrup for
Maple Grove? Did you tion groves with just
year with 890,000 gal- know it normally takes two personnel on the the family table and will
lons based on the most forty gallons of sap evaporator, one on the after the patient gather-
recent statistics reported from a tree with two reverse osmosis ma- er passes on. On the
in June to the USDA's percent sugar to pro- chine, another doing other scale, Landlords
New England Agricul- duce one gallon of syr- line maintenance and a like Timbervest, LLC
tural Statistics Survey. of Atlanta, GA whose
up? Not sure how much handful of others to
There was a slight, to invest in tools of the help out as needed. holdings are managed
2,000 gallon difference trade? The pricey but Presently, most of by Boston-based Land-
between the No. 2 spot excellent are reverse- Maine’s syrup origi- Vest, which has an of-
held by New York osmosis machines to el- nates from a swath of fice in Jackman, seem
(312,000) and Maine evate the sugar run to maple ten miles deep committed to a long-
(310,000). Maine pro- ten percent, with that along the Canadian bor- term maple presence by
ducers are gearing up to boost it reduces to eight der with tree densities granting lengthy leases.
be as successful as other the number of gallons that reach 100 maple And anyone attending
northern tates and many required to make a gal- trees per acre. The com- the Farmington Maple
sugar makers from lon of syrup. Thanks to pany Ellis represents is Mania should come
Maine travel to other technology, the same one of several major with questions to get
states to bolster their
craft with new educa-
work force that process-
es sap from 10,000 trees
producers operating in
the state where maple
straight answers for
your sugaring plans.
tion elsewhere, says
Eric Ellis, President of
using low-tech meth-
ods, can handle the
has more value with a
hole drilled through the
Story by
sunburyexchange.com
and the publisher
the Maine Maple Pro-
ducer Association. In
trying to bring the edu-
cation closer to home,
the officers of the
Maine Maple Producers
Association elected El-
lis to lead the three per-
son board at the annual
meeting held at the Ag
Trades Show at Augus-
ta Civic Center this past
Jan. 2011. On another
subject Ellis encourages
producers of any size
out there to participate
in the statistics survey
this season. “We feel
that’s why we fall be-
hind New York because
enough Maine produc-
ers might not be re-
sponding” said Ellis to
Mainely Agriculture.
To receive this
survey form in the mail,
call 1-800-642-9571.
16 Logging-Sugaring Issue MainelyAgriculture

Hancock towns to
Supplement
vote food safety
Small farmers are increasingly being
faced with new regulations with which they can
not afford to comply citing there is no evidence
that any illnesses have resulted from consumers
buying from local farms at farmers markets,
road side stands, etc. Laws in some states al-
ready ban church/Grange suppers because of
misguided concerns. As a result, some local
Hancock County farmers have written a pro-
posed Local Food Ordinance which soon will
be voted upon at town meetings in Blue Hill, Most pages of this paper are focused this issue
Sedgewick, Brooksville and Penobscot. on the Maple Syrup industry in Maine and on
some people involved in woods and logging.
Here Kevin Brannen of Smyrna teaches the The Laroche
granddaughter team is Mike on left and
of a close Dancer on right. 288 Curtis Rd. Swanville 04915 930-7027
WHEREAS All people are endowed with certain inalien- friend, Kenne- A neighbor, 14 year old Buyers of ALL TYPES of Scrap Metal
able rights, and among these are life, liberty and the dy Bencivenga, Cassie Duclos along for
pursuit of happiness; and how to tap a the ride, snapped the Ad this size on
WHEREAS Food is human sustenance and is the funda- tree, last year. Classified page $5.
picture.
mental prerequisite to life; and
WHEREAS The basis of human sustenance rests on the
ability of all people to save seed, grow, process, consume
Maine Woods Pellet Company of Athens has Erin and Na-
been recognized by a national Internet review- than Cheever of Poland
More Coming Events - pg. 15
and exchange food and farm products; and Currently-Maine’s taking also. Look up
WHEREAS We the Members of Halcyon Grange #345
er that they manufacture the best pellet in New were out recently with conservation districts the telephone numbers
have an obligation to protect these rights as is the Com- England. Many tons of pellet await shipment. Jim Laroche with his are taking orders for under US Government,
mon and Natural Law; and in recognition of the Grange’s wife Norma in the light fruit trees and other edi- Farm Service Agency,
proud agricultural heritage; and the necessity of agricul-
color team sleigh of Mi- bles now in Kennebec, Soil and Water Conser-
tural, ecological and economic diversity and sustainability
to a free and healthy Society; not for Equis exercise. Somerset and Pis- vation Districts located
THEREFORE Be it resolved, that We the Members of The Cheever’s group cataquis / Penobscot at in your county.
Halcyon Grange #345, stand on our rights under the 10th are named Copper (the the minimum and there Next paper - Mainely
Amendment to the US Constitution and reject such Feder- brown) and Steel (the may be other districts Agriculture will be on the
al and State of Maine decrees, statues, regulations or grey) Nathan drove. conducting such order stands again in early May.
corporate practices that threaten our basic human right sunburyexchange.com picture
to save seed, grow, process,
consume and exchange food
and farm products within
the state of Maine; and
Be it further resolved that
We the Members of Hal-
cyon Grange #345, shall
resist any and all infringe-
ments upon these rights, Affordable Nutrients for all needs PO Box 206 Carmel 04419
from whatever sources 207 848-2795
More than 40 products that provide micronutrients, 207 843-2903
that are contrary to the
rights of the People of the organic nitrogen and soil health such as; wood ash,
State of Maine; and limegrit, algefiber, bedding and shavings. Our business:
• Quality Products For Over 25 years * Chain link fence, PVC fence
Be it further resolved that
Steel & wood guardrails, woven
we the Members of Halcyon • Certified Crop Advisors and Nutrient Wire fence, wood fences, iron &
Grange #345 support the
Management Planners Aluminum ornamental fence,
Local Food and Community electrical gate openers & access
Self-Governance Ordinance • Spreaders Available * fence & pole barn, holes
control * * pressure treated posts (round &
of 2011 which will be on the • Call Now to Schedule Your Spring Delivery!
town warrants at the annual square, all sizes)
meetings of the towns of * Northern white cedar
Blue Hill, Brooksville, Pe- (round & square, all sizes)
nobscot and Sedgwick, in * pressure digger/earth augur -
Hancock County, Maine. holes drilled 8-36” dia., up to
Grange resolution
7’ deep
passed by unanimous vote
on Friday, Feb. 4th, 2011.
* down hole hammer drills
holes in rock 12-18” dia. - up
Letters to the editor to 9’deep
* all types of soil
by email must have phone
and town of residence
pvsmilksheep@aol.com