Save the Date for MFFM’s biennial Farmers’ Market Conference!
February 2, 2026 at the Augusta Civic Center, 9am – 3:30pm
Building Stronger Markets Together
Join us for a full day of vendor-, market organizer- and service provider-led sessions. Connect with fellow vendors from across the state to share experience, network, and get new ideas to bring home to your market. Our conference provides unique training and resources specifically for beginning and experienced vendors and market organizers.
Logistics:
We’ve rented out most of the North Wing’s second floor at the Augusta Civic Center. Check out this map if you want to get the lay of the land.
Registration and coffee open at 8:30. We’ll start the day with a brief welcome address from Jimmy and Keynote by Hanne Tierney. Then we’ll move into a short mixer activity to fast-track your networking. Two workshop sessions will run until lunchtime. We’ll all have lunch in the large room and flow straight into over an hour of Roundtables. One more workshop session will run until about 2:45. We’ll end the day with a brief group address and raffle drawing.
Continental Breakfast and full buffet Lunch are included in your registration, featuring the Civic Center’s new-and-improved menu of Maine-grown ingredients.
Additional Services
►►GET YOUR SCALES TESTED on site! Scales testing is required by the state if you’re selling anything by weight. If you plan to bring scales, please hit the button below to fill out the form. We need to provide an estimated number.
►►Maine WIC will be joining us all day! Have a chat about upcoming changes and what running WIC’s FMPP entails for your farm.
►►Maine Mobile Health will be set up to talk about FREE HEALTHCARE available to farm workers. We’re excited to learn more!
►►Free Social Media Audit with a farm marketing expert for your market or business during Roundtables!
In the event of a weather cancellation, we’ll run the sessions online in a staggered series, and all registrants will have access to a recording.
Please note: our Annual Meeting is not at our Conference this year. MFFM’s Annual Meeting is online on Wednesday, January 21, at 5pm. Register for the Annual Meeting on Zoom: https://mainefarmersmarkets.org/2026-annual-meeting/
Featured Workshops
Special Session for Livestock Producers
Animal products are an essential anchor to a balanced farmers’ market. But raw meat, dairy, and other products that must be kept cold are much harder to make into an inviting, eye-catching display. Then there’s the extra challenge of educating customers about the quality and care that goes into your products. Hear from Abby Sadauckas of Apple Creek Farm about her farm’s effective market displays and customer communication. We’ll also go over display ideas collected from our market visits over the last year, as well as a reminder of the specific food safety requirements for selling meat and dairy at markets.
Vendor Licenses and Regulations for Organizers
What licenses do I need to sell at a market? When I’m the market Secretary, which licenses do I need to be keeping track of for which vendors? How hard is it to get a kitchen license in Maine? What are the food safety rules for sales and sampling at markets? Hear from experts who know the details: Dr. Beth Calder, UMaine Cooperative Extension Food Science Specialist and Associate Professor of Food Science and Ben Metcalf, Inspection Program Manager, Maine DACF Quality Assurance & Regulations. This session is designed in response to market organizer requests for guidance on managing required licenses and food safety rules across the diversity of vendor products found at markets.
Geared for ORGANIZERS, VENDORS, NEW & PROSPECTIVE VENDORS, PROSPECTIVE ORGANIZERS
The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Market
Promotions and fundraising expert Michelle Gill, of the Kittery Community Market, presents our brand new in-depth marketing guide website, developed especially for Maine farmers’ market organizers. The free, practical toolkit is designed for a wide range of markets, from brand-new, volunteer-run markets with limited resources to large markets with dedicated marketing staff. It offers clear frameworks, templates, and real-world examples. The guide also highlights the synergy between marketing and fundraising, showing how consistent storytelling and outreach can grow attendance, strengthen sponsor support, and improve long-term sustainability.
Geared for: VENDORS, ORGANIZERS, PROSPECTIVE ORGANIZERS
Vendor Panel: A Career in Farmers’ Markets
Hear from three vendors at different stages in their career about how and why farmers’ markets have served their business and lifestyle goals. Panelists will be announced week of 1/19!
Geared for: VENDORS, NEW & PROSPECTIVE VENDORS
Market Governance: Setting the Tone
Almost all farmers’ markets in Maine are democratically self-governed by the vendors themselves. As a market Chair or President, it’s your job to get a group of independent thinkers to make some collective decisions. Join legendary vendor-organizer Hanne Tierney of Cornerstone Farm (Retired from markets in 2025) She’ll walk you through crafting an agenda and running a market meeting that encourages folks to come to the meeting, to be informed enough to participate, while also giving your market members space to be heard, and having a voice in how their market operates. Leading any meeting is a skill set that takes practice and preparation, especially when the attendees are all their own bosses.
Geared for: ORGANIZERS, VENDORS, PROSPECTIVE ORGANIZERS
Info Booth School
A special sessions just for Info Booth Staffers! Watch your inbox–we’re sending you all the details of what to expect the week of 1/19. If you work an Info Booth at a market we don’t have a connection to, we welcome you! All Info Booth staffers get free admission to the conference.
Grant Writing for Very Busy People
Learn how to break into the world of grants available to producers and community organizations with the professional grant writer who’s won millions of dollars in funding for farmers and vendors: our very own Jimmy DeBiasi! Learn application efficiencies, proven pro tips, and a sustainable attitude to apply to fundraising for your market or even your own business. In the last 9 years, Jimmy has brought in (and reported for) scores of grants in the full range of amounts (hundreds to hundreds of thousands) and sources (community scale to national). He has also written multiple successful VAPGs for producers as a side hustle.
Geared for: ORGANIZERS, VENDORS
Food Access is just the Beginning
Last year, our voucher programs brought over $1.2million in direct sales revenue to Maine farmers’ market vendors. Join our Director of Food Access Programs, Emily Grassie, to learn how to get these programs at your market, and how to promote, maintain, and grow them. This session will highlight updates to Maine Harvest Bucks and share an overview of how MFFM’s programs continue to evolve. We’ll cover fiscal agency market requirements, key deadlines, and other important considerations, with a focus on supporting markets to remain strong, sustainable, and well-positioned for the seasons ahead.
Geared for: ORGANIZERS
Data and How to Use It
See compelling farmers’ market data from the last few years, and hear how we at MFFM use it and what it means. Then hear from a Market Manager about her own market’s data collection process, and how it informs their decision-making and community relationships. Detailed description coming soon!
Geared for: ORGANIZERS
Spreadsheets Expo for Markets and Vendor Businesses
“I should have starting doing it like this years ago!” Take a tour through all of the basic computer spreadsheet functions you should be using. A session informed by our firsthand experience working as vendors, vendor employees, and market organizers led by our resident numbers guy, Daniel Krenzelok. We’ll show you ways to improve your sheets to advance your goals, including functions to track sales, pick/pack lists, accounting, projections, and more.
Geared for: VENDORS, ORGANIZERS
Market Liabilities and How to Handle Them – >>POSTPONED<<
**This session has been POSTPONED due to conflicting schedules for the lawyer presenter, and will be offered online later this year.
Did you hear the one about the market who’s insurance provider only covered them during a natural disaster because they had a printed emergency preparedness plan on site? Neither had we until last year. Join an expert from Legal Food Hub to talk about emergency plans and other liabilities that your market should be aware of.
Geared for: ORGANIZERS
Plus, be invigorated by our popular Roundtable Sessions, where attendees can wander between moderated conversation tables on popular topics, or form their own. Some topics this year will include Market Insurance, Accessibility & ADA Compliance at Market, a 1:1 Social Media Consult with signup slots, Fundraising for Market, and more.
Register now to get your earlybird discount!
Regular Price: $50
Earlybird: $40
Contributing Markets receive a discount; market or business Group Rates available
MFFM Employees and Info Booth workers, please select Free Admission
Scholarships are available for vendors’ employees – please reach out, we want YOU to come!
THANK YOU to our 2026 Maine Farmers’ Market Conference Sponsors
Want to join this list? It’s not too late – Learn about Conference Sponsorship HERE and be in touch!
Bushel Sponsors: Lee Auto
Peck Sponsors: Maine Farmland Trust
Quart Sponsors: Maine WIC, Portland Food Co-op
Pint Sponsors: Flycatcher, Rising Tide Co-op, Farm Credit East, Allagash Brewing
Additional support from: CEI