Maine Healthy Soils Program: Soil Health Implementation Grant (ME)

The Maine Healthy Soils Program offers a Soil Health Implementation Grant to support projects that mitigate barriers to soil health on farms. Applicants can receive up to $100,000 for expenses related to soil amendments, cover cropping, and equipment purchases. This initiative aims to enhance soil health, improve agricultural yields, and encourage sustainable practices. Eligible applicants must be enrolled in the Maine Healthy Soils Program to apply. This grant helps promote healthier farming practices across Maine.

NOTE: Must have enrolled in the Maine Healthy Soils Program by having previously met with MHSP staff (virtual consultations, field visits, etc.). You can enroll in the MHSP concurrently with applying to this grant by scheduling a soil health test sampling date.
The Maine Healthy Soils Program (MHSP) was created by the 131 st Legislative Assembly (12 M.R.S.A., Chapter 7) to promote and expand the use of healthy soils best practices on Maine’s farms to improve the health, yield, diversity, and greenhouse gas drawdown capacity of those soils. The Maine Healthy Soils Program offers diverse support mechanisms, including 1:1 soil health coaching, on-farm soils and soil health evaluations, soil health testing, and several grant/incentive programs. This is a request for applications for the MHSP Soil Health Implementation Grant (SHIG).
The Soil Health Implementation Grant provides funding for projects that address on-farm barriers to soil health. Barriers that can be addressed through this grant include but are not limited to costs for amendments, cover cropping, increased crop rotation, fencing, soil monitoring equipment, soil testing, labor and training, scaling practice adoption, resting rehabilitating poorly performing or fallow fields, and equipment purchases. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (Department) is seeking applications for the Soil Health Implementation Grant. Applicants may request up to $100,000 to implement a project that addresses barriers to improving soil health on the farm.