There’s in an article in today’s Food & Dining section on a grant to support wheat farming in Maine and Vermont.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will fund a four-year project that brings together scientists, farmers, bakers and millers from both states to expand organic wheat production in New England, once a bread basket of the nation.
Ellen Mallory, a sustainable agriculture specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service who is leading the project, estimates that Maine produces 200 to 500 acres of organic wheat. Vermont produces about the same.
“It’s hard to get a handle on what the demand really is, but we know that we’re well below supplying that demand,” Mallory said.