Maine Farmland Trust
Maine Farmland Trust is a public charity based in Belfast, Maine. It works to protect farmland, support farmers in keeping land in production, and advocate for conditions that help farms and farmers thrive.
Key facts about Maine Farmland Trust
In short: Maine Farmland Trust gave $939K across 15 grants in 2025 (avg $63K), mostly in Maine. 87% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- EIN
- 01-0528014
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025
- Annual giving (2025)
- $938,630
- Grants made (2025)
- 15
- Average grant
- $62,575
- Median grant
- $15,000
- New grantees (estimate)
- 87% first-time grantees (13 of 15, 2025)
- Total assets
- $27,539,021
- Primary geography
- Maine (99% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- How to apply
- For the Blue Hill Peninsula Community Food Grants, applicants submit proposals for projects carried out in the designated towns. Full details ↓
- Deadline
- March 31, 2027.
- Next open deadline
- March 31, 2027 (Blue Hill Peninsula Community Food Grants)
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology). Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Financial Overview
From 2025 IRS Form 990 · View filing
Total Assets
$27.5M
+2.0% YoY
Annual Giving
$939K
+1347.5% YoY
Grant Count
15
+150.0% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$63K
+479.0% YoY
Is Maine Farmland Trust open to new grantees?
87%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 13 of 15 grantees (87%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $70K; repeat grants $12K. How we count
Medians: $15K first-time, $12K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Mission & Focus Areas
Maine Farmland Trust’s stated mission is to “protect farmland, support farmers, and advance the future of farming.” Its website describes its approach as linking farmland protection with support for farm businesses and affordable access to land.
The organization protects farmland through agricultural easements and its Buy Protect Sell program, in which it purchases farms at risk of development or unaffordable to farmers, protects them with an agricultural easement, and resells them to a farmer at farmland value. Its farmer programs offer business planning, climate resilience resources, and support related to PFAS contamination. The organization also operates FarmLink to match prospective farmers with landowners, and conducts education, policy, and research work.
The organization’s 2023 filing describes work that included 13 land-protection projects protecting 1,821 acres, annual monitoring of 296 easements covering more than 44,000 acres, climate resilience support for 51 farm businesses, and farm business planning services for 60 farm businesses. It also reported direct PFAS support for approximately 28 farms.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, Maine Farmland Trust reported 15 grants totaling $938,630. Grant amounts ranged from $5,086 to $413,702, with a median of $15,000. The largest reported grants included:
Review Cycle
March 31, 2027.
Open Grants
1 open opportunity from Maine Farmland Trust
Ready to take the next step with Maine Farmland Trust?
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The organization’s stated work centers on Maine farms and farmland. In its 2025 grantmaking, 99% of grant dollars went to recipients in Maine and 1% to recipients in Vermont. The Blue Hill Peninsula Community Food Grants are limited to projects in Blue Hill, Sedgwick, Penobscot, Castine, Orland, Surry, Deer Isle, Stonington, Brooksville, and Brooklin.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of all 15 itemized 2025 grant dollars.
Cities
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $65K (2024) to $939K (2025). In 2025 it made 15 grants totaling $939K.
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Niweskok ($414K). Together the top 10 received $898K.
Grant Size Distribution
45 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 25 grants of 45 (56%).
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Niweskok Swanville, ME | Land Return & Goose River Farm Purchase | $413,702 |
| Dostie Farm Fairfield, ME | PFAS Infrastructure & Wellness | $138,634 |
| Keith Hunter Unity, ME | PFAS Infrastructure | $107,457 |
| Brigreen Farms Turner, ME | Farming for the Long Haul Implementation | $65,000 |
| Second Frost Farm Monroe, ME | Farming for the Long Haul Implementation | $55,000 |
| Old Crow Ranch Durham, ME | Farming for the Long Haul Implementation | $55,000 |
| Misty Brook Farm Albion, ME | Farming for the Long Haul Implementation | $18,090 |
| Fields Fields Blueberries Dresden, ME | Wild Blueberry Innovation Grant | $15,000 |
| Brodis Blueberries Hope, ME | Wild Blueberry Innovation Grant | $15,000 |
| Lost & Found Farm Gray, ME | Wild Blueberry Innovation Grant | $15,000 |
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $27,539,021 | $8,306,755 | $7,877,916 | $938,630 |
| 2024 | $26,990,758 | $5,173,541 | $6,628,767 | $64,844 |
| 2023 | $28,370,138 | $4,221,079 | $5,419,196 | $226,700 |
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $27,539,021 | $26,990,758 | $28,370,138 |
| Revenue | $8,306,755 | $5,173,541 | $4,221,079 |
| Expenses | $7,877,916 | $6,628,767 | $5,419,196 |
| Net Investment Income | $236,409 | $-1,648,322 | $240,253 |
Data update history
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS July 21, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS November 1, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS August 22, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS August 24, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 10, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 3, 2025)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
Officers and directors listed on the 2025 filing are Dave Colson, Chair; Margot Anne Kelley, Vice Chair; Justin Jamison, Treasurer; Alix Hopkins, Secretary; and directors Jason Bolton, Amanda Bunker, Steve Crane, Caitlin Frame, Lauren Giroux, and Don Perkins.
Maine Farmland Trust is led by Kristin Varnum, Interim President since 2025 (on filings since 2019); 2 of 15 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Kristin Varnum
Interim President
Vice President, CFO & Co-P → Vice President & CFO, 2022
Vice President & CFO → Interim President, 2025
On filings since 2019
40 hrs/week
$118K (2019) → $179K (2025)
Stacy Brenner
President
Director → President, 2025
On filings since 2019
40 hrs/week
$61K (2025)
Dave Colson
Chair
Vice Chair → Chair, 2024
On filings since 2019
6 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Henry Whittemore
Director
Treasurer → Director, 2025
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Jason Bolton
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Steve Crane
Director
Director → Secretary F, 2022
Secretary F → Director, 2023
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Caitlin Frame
Director
On filings since 2023
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Amanda Bunker
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Don Perkins
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Drew Sigfridson
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Lauren Giroux
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Tom Settlemire
Director
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Justin Jamison
Treasurer
Director → Treasurer, 2023
On filings since 2021
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Margot Anne Kelley
Vice Chair
Secretary → Vice Chair, 2024
On filings since 2023
5 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Alix Hopkins
Secretary
New on the 2025 filing
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (16)
- Former: Jon Olson (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Meredith Eilers (2019–2024) — Chair
- Former: Susan Morris (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Taylor Mudge (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Amy Fisher (2021–2024) — President
- Former: Nick Armentrout (2021–2024) — Secretary
- Former: Eleanor Kinney (2019–2022) — Secretary
- Former: James Lawrence (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Walter Fletcher (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: William Bell (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Steven Page (2019–2021) — Secretary F
- Former: Louanna Perkins (2020–2021) — Co-President
- Former: Neil Crane (2019–2020) — Director Fm
- Former: William Toomey (2019–2020) — President F
- Former: Amanda Beal (2019) — President F
- Former: Franklin B. Miles Jr. (2019) — Director Fm
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $179K, to Kristin Varnum (Interim President). 2 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Contact
Mailing address: 97 Main Street, Belfast, ME 04915
Phone: (207) 338-6575
Website: https://mainefarmlandtrust.org
Frequently asked questions about Maine Farmland Trust
How much does Maine Farmland Trust give each year?
Maine Farmland Trust gave $939K across 15 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $65K across 6 grants.
What is Maine Farmland Trust's typical grant size?
Maine Farmland Trust's median grant in 2025 was $15,000, and its average grant was $62,575, across 15 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Maine Farmland Trust that year got $70K on average.
Where does Maine Farmland Trust give grants?
Maine Farmland Trust gives mostly in Maine: 99% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Unity, ME (2 grants).
Does Maine Farmland Trust give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 15 grants with a stated purpose on Maine Farmland Trust's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Farming for the Long Haul Implementation" (4 grants) and "Wild Blueberry Innovation Grant" (3 grants).
Who are Maine Farmland Trust's largest grantees?
Maine Farmland Trust's largest 2025 grantees include Niweskok ($413,702), Dostie Farm ($138,634) and Keith Hunter ($107,457), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 70% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Maine Farmland Trust?
Maine Farmland Trust reported $27.5M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $8.3M.
What does Maine Farmland Trust fund?
Maine Farmland Trust’s stated mission is to “protect farmland, support farmers, and advance the future of farming.” Its website describes its approach as linking farmland protection with support for farm businesses and affordable access to land. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Maine Farmland Trust?
For the Blue Hill Peninsula Community Food Grants, applicants submit proposals for projects carried out in the designated towns. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Maine Farmland Trust's EIN?
Maine Farmland Trust's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 01-0528014. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Here's the math on researching Maine Farmland Trust by hand.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Maine Farmland Trust's focus areas in our free grants database
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