“Traditional” red Maine barns are popular with photographers who enjoy historic sites, including yours truly. However, many, if not most, barns here are more likely to shelter cars and trucks than cows and goats, or contain summer apartments and party rooms rather than grain and hay:
A sobering story is told in the 2024 Maine Census of Agriculture (based on the most recent [2022] data). The number of farms in the state has been decreasing over the years. As in many states, Maine farms are mostly (82%) individual- or family-run operations.
A remarkable 57% of Maine farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. And, most of our farmers are old. About 12.5% of Maine farmers are over 75 years old, about 26% are in the 64-to-75-years-old category, and about 23% are in the 55-to-64 category.
Maine’s principal agricultural products are potatoes, milk and other dairy products, chicken eggs, blueberries, and (somewhat surprisingly) floricultural items (flowers and ornamental plants). (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 8, 2025.)