In Attendance: Margie, Marilyn, Neal, Andy, Greg, Ellen, Glen, Steve, Tom, Renae

Secretary’s Report: 

Minutes of the March 14^th meeting were submitted by Margie.

Membership Status – As of June, 54 members have paid dues for 2012, compared to 60 total memberships in 2010.  However, a total of $5129 has been taken in as dues compared to $3851. 

Treasurer’s Report:

Filing of IRS form 990 for nonprofits was successfully completed by Scott.

Opening Balance as of Feb. 29, 2012                         $7,372.34

Closing Balance as of March 31, 2012                       $7,616.24

Current Balance in Long Range Planning Fund         $5,910.52

The Executive Committee voted in favor of spending up to $1500 on the Apple IPM Scouting program run by Glen Koehler.  Other grant money will cover the remaining costs of the scouting program.

The Executive Committee voted in favor of spending $2000 on the New England Tree Fruit Research Committee which funds apple research projects within New England.  Renae submitted a proposal for cold hardiness testing of apple rootstocks and requested $1800.                     

Finance & Long Range: Nothing to report.

Labor: Nothing to report.

By-Laws:  Nothing to report.

Legislative:

LD1605- Limited Liability was signed into law.  Steve has been in contact with Aaron Libby who approached the Farm Bureau to see if they have plans to create the required sign. The wording for the sign can be found on the Maine.gov/legis/ web site.

LD 1164 Act to Support Maine Farmers and Alleviate Hunger –Opinions, some accountant allow in kind donations to be taken as a state tax donation, others do not, so there are mixed reactions to this bill.  Steve said the State stands to lose 1/2 million dollars on this and does not think it will pass.

AgCom: Tom attended the recent meeting and volunteered the Society as a host and sponsor of the upcoming Legislative tour.  One of the farms on the tour will be an apple orchard.  The cost for the Society will be $300. The date has not been set yet. 

Board of Ag. The University budget was not cut as much as they expected, but cuts are anticipated next year.  Renae and Glen’s jobs are safe for now.  

IPM Council:  This is a mandated council by the Maine Legislature and therefore is not threatened to be dissolved at this point (like the Tourism Council). There is some controversy over whether all the funds for research, sustainability and IPM should be put into one large fund.

Maine Dept. of Ag.: Nothing to Report

USApple: Nothing to report.

NEAA: We are waiting to see if there will be any Specialty Crop Initiative grant funds available. Russell is willing to write the grant and create some designs for point of purchase materials.   

Other Business:  The UMCE asked us to supply a letter of support for the Crop Insurance education grant. It was agreed that we will supply the letter and have them speak at the summer meeting. It was suggested that they talk about record keeping or some other topic than crop insurance.

Market Promotion: Regarding the website Maineapples.org, Margie requested that the website not have direct links into other websites, but to put links in a separate location.  Renae requested that the measure of hits for each of the web pages be reset to zero after recording the current number.  Also, a change will be made in one of the webpage headings from “Four Seasons” to words which are more commonly included in searches, such as Growing Apples.  The Web Site contains a non-interactive page with members-only access.  It is currently being used to post the minutes of Executive Committee meeting minutes.  Renae will to see if she can archive the past minutes.

Deadline for Palm card: Labor Day

Experiment Station/Highmoor Farm   

Renae discussed the SARE grant for scab research and education, and asked members of the committee about online surveys. 

Date for next meeting:  June 13^th

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