FARMINGTON – A meeting to talk about the future of more than 300 farms in Franklin County will be held April 28, amid growing concerns of food safety, rising costs and climate change in other parts of the country.

Planning for a Future of Agriculture in 21st Century Franklin County will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the West Farmington Grange Hall on Bridge Street.

“With gas costs increasing, it’s more expensive to bring in food from other parts of the country,” said Jo Josephson, one organizer of a talk on what local government and businesses can do to keep farmland in farming in Franklin County. “With the water shortage in the West and as the dollar devalues, we won’t have as much creating a food security issue,” she said.

Both large and small diversified farms are selling their products directly to consumers as the result of concern over food safety, rising costs and the effects of climate change on agriculture in other areas of the United States, Town Manager Richard Davis said in an invitation sent to local town officials and the business community.

Sponsored by the Farmington selectmen and Planning Board, the meeting will explore positive changes by farms that diversify by making cheese, butter, sausages or turkey pie. Planning Board member Tom Eastler and Josephson will present a slide show titled The Changing Face of Agriculture in Franklin County.

The question of how local government, businesses, banks, Realtors and others can work with the farming community will be addressed, Josephson said.

Other presenters include:

• Bussie York, a longtime Farmington dairy farmer and Planning Board member, who will share his thoughts on how agriculture can be sustained.

• John Piotti of Maine Farmland Trust on the challenges and opportunities facing Maine, where 250,000 to 400,000 acres of farmland is in danger of being abandoned or put to other uses in the next 10 to 20 years.

• Stephanie Gilbert of the Maine Farmland Protection Program on how some communities are working to save farmland.

• Mark Hews on work he is doing with a nine-town agricultural commission in Oxford County.

A discussion of projects that could help keep farmland productive will end the program.

While community members may not be directly connected to farming, organizers are trying to get everyone involved and to help them see the issue, she said.

All are welcome to attend.