Code of Maine Rules › 01 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY › 001 - AGRICULTURE - GENERAL › Chapter 37 - RULES GOVERNING THE VOLUNTARY MUNICIPAL FARM SUPPORT PROGRAM › Section 001-37-1 - DEFINITIONS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
1.
Agricultural Crops
- means
				all types of forage plants consumed by animals including grazed land, hay,
				ensilage, corn for ensilage and other crops grown for forage; field grown crops
				and associated rotation crops, including potatoes, grain corn, small grains and
				broccoli; wild low-bush blueberries, field-grown and greenhouse-grown intensive
				vegetable and fruit row crops, including strawberries, raspberries and
				high-bush blueberries; planted and cultivated Christmas trees, shrubs, sod,
				flowers, edible and ornamental herbs, trees bearing edible fruits and nuts,
				fruit trees, and general ornamental nursery crops grown on the farm to be
				consumed by the farm household, bartered and/or sold to generate
				income.
2.
Agricultural
				Enterprises
- meansactivities conducted by persons or businesses engaged
				in Agricultural Management and any further processing, storing, packaging or
				marketing of products derived from plants, animals, or plant or animal
				by-products generated primarily on a farm. "Agricultural Enterprise" may also
				include commercial forest management, the processing and production of firewood
				and other forest products harvested on a farm, and the generation and storage
				of electrical energy and other energy sources primarily for consumption on the
				farm.
3.
Agricultural
				Management
- meansfarming activity which includesthe establishment,
				re-establishment, maintenance and use of cultivated fields, hayfields,
				pastures, and orchards; the planting, growing, and harvesting of food, forage,
				seed and fiber, forest products and horticultural and ornamental products,
				harvesting and processing of maple sugar and other agricultural products; the
				pasturing, grazing and raising of poultry, animals and livestock of every
				nature and description for breeding, milking, and selling for fiber or
				slaughter; the repair, maintenance, operation and storage of farm equipment and
				machinery used primarily on the farm, including the operation of irrigation
				pumps; ground and aerial seeding; the composting of material produced by the
				farm or to be used primarily on the farm; the disposal of manure and other
				animal wastes generated primarily on the farm; the application of chemical
				fertilizers, soil amendments, conditioners or pesticides; and the construction
				and maintenance of water source, wastewater storage, water quality protection
				and nutrient management structures and improvements as necessary to support the
				farm.
4.
Agricultural Soils
				-
meansprime, unique, statewide or locally important farmland soils
				identified and classified by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service as
				"Prime, Unique, Statewide or Locally Important Farmland Soils" and described
				and depicted in the NRCS Conservation Plan.
5.
Agritourism
- means
				farm-related, recreational activities designed for the enjoyment or education
				of the public to promote agricultural products, services, or experiences on the
				farm. Such activities include, but are not limited to, conducting educational
				farm tours, offering hay and sleigh rides, planting crop mazes, offering the
				public the opportunity to pick and purchase agricultural, horticultural,
				Christmas trees or other forest products produced on a farm, cross-country
				skiing, and engaging in other traditional non-intensive outdoor recreational
				activities.
6.
Blueberry
				Land
- means land devoted to the production of wild low-bush
				blueberries.
7.
Crop
Land
- means land used for the production of all
				Agricultural Crops defined in Section 1.1. above, which includes all crops
				grown in rotation with potatoes and other commodity crops, such as grain corn,
				small grains, lupines, broccoli, rapeseed, etc.
8.
Department of Agriculture
-
				means the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.
9.
Development Pressure
- means
				the potential of the farm operations to be curtailed due to increasing
				development of non-compatible land uses near the farm. This includes, but is
				not limited to, residential and industrial development, nuisance complaints,
				and loss of agricultural infrastructure in the vicinity of the farm or food
				business. These, and other non-compatible land uses, can create environmental,
				social, political, or operational constraints on the farm operation and result
				in negative financial impacts to the farm business.
10.
Farm Income Report
- means
				an accounting of the annual yield (in units) and fair market value (price or
				value per unit) of all of the Agricultural Crops produced on a farm.
11.
Horticultural Land - Edible
- means land used for the production of market garden vegetables and small
				fruit crops, including strawberries, raspberries and high-bush
				blueberries.
12.
Horticultural Land - Ornamental -
means land used for the production of
				planted and cultivated Christmas trees, flowers, sod, shrubs, trees and general
				nursery stock.
13.
Orchard
Land
- means land devoted to the growth and
				cultivation of trees bearing edible fruits planted at a stocking density of 60
				trees per acre or greater.
14.
Pasture Land
- means land that is primarily used for grazing
				livestock, and "pasture land" as it is defined in the Farmland Tax Law (Title
				36, MRS sections 1101-1121 ) which includes land producing hay, ensilage crops,
				such as grass, corn and sorghum, and any other crops grown for livestock
				forage.
15.
Qualified
				Agricultural Conservation Easement
- means a 20-year Agricultural
				Conservation Easement that is adopted by a municipality's legislative body to
				establish a Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program for that
				municipality.
16.
Qualified
				Farmland and Farm
Buildings
-means the Farmland and Farm
				Buildings that are authorized by a municipality to be eligible for a Farm
				Support Arrangement.
17.
Tax
				Parcel
- means all contiguous land in the same ownership, except,
				however, that lands located on opposite sides of a public or private road are
				considered each a separate tract or parcel of land unless the road was
				established by the owner of land on both sides of the road after September 22,
				1971.
18.
Wasteland
-
				means land that is part of a Tax Parcel devoted to Agricultural Management that
				is not suitable for Agricultural Management, but would be acceptable under
				Maine's Farm and Open Space Property Tax Program. In this context, wetland is
				classified as Wasteland.
19.
Woodland
- means land that is part of a Tax Parcel devoted forest
				products, including logs, lumber, and firewood, that is part of the to
				Agricultural Management of the farm and part of an Agricultural
				Enterprise.
20.
Livestock
				-
means animals and livestock of every nature and description for
				breeding, milking, and selling for fiber or slaughter that are bred, raised and
				housed on the farm, including, but not limited to, alpaca/llama; farmed bison,
				elk and deer; beef and dairy cattle; horses/donkeys/mules; sheep; goats; pigs;
				rabbits; emus/ostriches; poultry; ducks; and turkeys.