Current through 2024-44, October 30, 2024
Section 001-37-1 - DEFINITIONS1. 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.01-001 C.M.R. ch. 37, § 1