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Success Stories

A mother and three daughters pose around a dining room table. There are lace curtains and blue wall in the background and some dishes on the table in the foreground.

“This is Home” – A Family Finds Their Forever Home in Calais, Maine

One of the first rooms Heather Gagne and her daughters began redecorating in their new home is the dining room, shown in the top photo. They have been busy repainting and making other updates. Raising a family in coastal Machias, Maine may sound lovely, but for Heather Gagne recent years proved stressful. There were few housing options in the Downeast community, and Heather was glad to find a rental home to…
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Use the filters below to find additional stories about how our programs have helped rural communities across the nation.

Search Results: 9 Stories
The Gerritsen family of Wood Prairie farm is shown gathered around potato sorting equipment.

Iconic Maine Farm Returns to its Roots with REAP

Wood Prairie Family Farm (WPFF) is in the far northern town of Bridgewater, Maine, near the Canadian border. The farm is best known for its certified organic table potatoes and Maine certified seed potatoes (sold locally, online, and from a… [Read More]
Maine
Food SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal ProduceRenewable Energy
Jim Pitreau stands at the base of Green Thumb Farms' new grain dryer.

High Efficiency Grain Dryer Proves Transformational for Green Thumb Farms

Soil Health, Bottom Line, and Maine Livestock All Benefit from REAP GrantGreen Thumb Farms is a familiar name to many Mainers. The farm’s “Cold River Gold” potatoes are found in abundance in New England supermarkets each fall and winter.  The family-owned farm in the… [Read More]
Maine
BusinessEnergyFood SupplyKnow Your FarmerREAP
Two farmers pose with sheep inside a barn with hay on the floor and an open door in the background.

Maine Farm Uses REAP to Help Diversify Farm and Serve a Heritage Industry

Elizabeth Goundie and Josh Emerman are the co-founders of Moorit Hill Farm and Fiber in Troy, Maine. They came to Central Maine by a circuitous route, purchasing the property in 2017. Just seven years later, the young farmers are not only tending more than 70 sheep but also… [Read More]
Maine
Food SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal FoodsREAPSmall BusinessSolar Energy
Molly and Everett pose with dog Cricket in front of their barn with the solar panels on the roof.

REAP Helps Nettie Fox Farm Step Away from Fossil Fuels

Nestled in the gently rolling hills of Newburgh, Maine, Nettie Fox Farm produces certified organic vegetables. Molly Crouse founded the farm in 2009. In 2013 her partner, Everett Ottinger, joined her in operating the 33-acre spread. They began steadily increasing the… [Read More]
Maine
ElectricFood SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceRCDIREAPRenewable EnergySolar Energy
A tractor in a field with workers planting plants

Love Continues to Grow at Lovefood Farm

In 2015, Lovefood Farm launched their farm off one rented acre with a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Saturday farmers market and a neighborhood farmstand. Lovefood spent a few years at the Farley Center Farm Incubator, which allowed them to eventually purchase 30… [Read More]
Wisconsin
EntrepreneurFood SupplyKnow Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSmall BusinessSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added
Guests use new technology at Agriculture exhibit

Teaching, Learning, and Growing Rural Communities

Agriculture innovation has changed over the years and one organization is using technology to educate and spark interest in the farming community.   “Discovery Park of America is a world class museum and heritage park located in a very rural area of Tennessee,” said… [Read More]
Tennessee
GrantsKnow Your FarmerRural Development

USDA Grant Boosts Heritage Breed Livestock Producer

Farm thrives, bolsters other local farmers during coronavirus pandemic   For Shelly Oswald, owner of Old Time Farm in Stoneboro, Pa., the novel coronavirus pandemic illustrates the vital role small, local agriculture producers play in safeguarding food security during a… [Read More]
Pennsylvania
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsMade in Rural America

Claybrook Farms Providing Beef and Jobs

Even though Claybrook Farms had a long standing reputation for its excellent Black Angus cattle breeding operation, the new owner wanted to broaden the farm’s horizon.The Turner family purchased the 700 acre Claybrook Farms in 1975 growing it to over 1,000 acres and adding the… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic FoodsValue Added

Federal, State and Local Partnership Brings Farmers Market to Life

Town of Ashland City Mayor Richard Johnson was concerned about the sagging agricultural economy and lack of facilities for their Farmers Market. Reaching out last year to state and federal partners the Town of Ashland City received a USDA Rural Development Rural Business… [Read More]
Tennessee
Know Your FarmerLocal FoodsLocal ProduceSustainable/Organic Foods

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