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Interest in growing wheat is growing

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Attending a workshop on growing wheat during the Maine Agricultural Trade Show held this week are, from left: Dave Fuller of Franklin County’s Cooperative Extension and Bussie York of Sandy River Farm in Farmington.

AUGUSTA – The who’s who of Maine’s wheat growers, flour millers and bread bakers gathered this week at the Civic Center for 69th Maine Agricultural Trade Show, where they swapped successes and failures in the fledgling business of growing Maine wheat.

Among those attending the wheat workshop were Franklin County’s Cooperative Extension specialist Dave Fuller and Sandy River Farm’s Bussie York of Farmington. Both are interested in bringing wheat production to Franklin County.


Henry Perkins of Albion talked the hard red winter wheat he was growing and passed around a sample.

Allen Ginsberg of Fiddlers Green Farm and pancake mix in Belfast, who has been milling organic grain from Canada for 30 years, talked about the need for standards of high quality.

Amber Lambke of the Somerset Grist Mill in Skowhegan and the founder of the Kneading Conference talked about her start up flour mill in an old jail and the job-creating Community Development Block Grant she got to buy equipment.

Steve Russell of the Organic Feed Mill in Auburn talked about the 11 farmers in his cooperative that will begin operation in six to eight weeks.

Garin Smith of Grassland Farm in Skowhegan talked about his experimentation with growing 10 varieties of wheat.

Eli Rogosa of the Northeast Wheat Project talked about the heritage wheats from the Middle East she was trialing in Maine and Massachusetts.

Henry Perkins of Albion talked the hard red winter wheat he was growing and passed around a sample.

Fuller attended the workshop and has plans to run a daylong workshop for wheat growers on Feb. 4 at 9 A.M. at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office on 138 Pleasant St. in Farmington. The office is located a few hundred yards up the street from the Farmer’s Union on Front St. on the same side of the road. Other landmarks are the Granary Restaurant and the Narrow Gauge movie house, across the street.

The workshop is thanks to a USDA grant to Maine and Vermont to revive the growing of wheat in New England. Farmer York attended the wheat workshop because he has been experimenting with growing wheat recently.

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1 Comment

  1. Thanks Jo!!! I have been thinking about doing the same thing just didnt know how to go about it. The workshop will help!

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