LIVERMORE FALLS — Owning and maintaining a farm is no easy task. Even with paid farmhands, not everything can be accomplished so easily. In Livermore Falls, Justin Triquet and Nichole Leroux are giving helping hands to local farmers and other members of the community through their business, JustNiks Rent-A-Farmers, LLC.

According to Triquet, the business formally started on Jan. 4, 2022, but its inception goes back even further than that. “Nikki and I traveled the country for the last five years, four of those five years, going around from farm to farm and helping out people with certain needs,” Triquet said.

This led the couple to jobs and places like working beef cattle in Kansas, working dairy cattle in Ohio, and working with horses in New York. “We’ve done vegetable farms, we’ve done greenhouses, so on and so forth,” Triquet stated.

The whole purpose of this, according to Triquet, was to gather as much experience as possible working on different farms around the country and bringing that experience back to Maine. From seasoned farmers to new farmland owners with zero experience, Triquet and Leroux’s intent is to extend a hand and help in any way possible.

For Leroux, farm life is second nature to her. “I had a grandfather and he had pigs and chickens. I would be sitting at his dinner table, and I would ask him what happened to the cows, and he’s like, ‘you’re eating them’,” She explained.

Leroux grew up raising horses and doing shows before eventually traveling from farm to farm, helping in any way she could. According to Leroux, the experience had its drawbacks, but it was ultimately rewarding.

“I feel like farming is really good for the soul,” She said, “It feeds the soul, and so when you do projects and you’re having trouble, you realize the struggles that you’re having with those projects is because of you and your inner core, and once you get through that project and see the accomplishment, it wasn’t such a struggle, after all, it was just a struggle within yourself.”

These endeavors are what led to the formation of JustNiks Rent-A-Farmers, as well as their other business venture, JustNiks Mylcosilva, LCC and Forest Fungi, LLC.

Triquet and Leroux’s venture into mushroom cultivation came from their own personal journey to find natural remedies. This led to their discovery of chaga mushrooms. “That black lump of coal that grows on the side of a birch tree? That’s called chaga and it’s a medicinal mushroom,” Triquet said.

Chaga mushroom, according to MedicalNewsToday, is a mushroom that is high in antioxidants, helps support the immune system, and lowers cholesterol. Some studies even suggest it could slow and even prevent cancer growth, but more evidence is needed to confirm this effect. Still, Triquet is adamant about what it can do.

“Every year, I have horrible allergies,” Triquet said, “From the time it gets warm to the time it gets cold, I’m miserable. No allergies at all this year to anything ever. Not dust, not mold or mildew. Nothing. Not once. I’m not talking like, oh, yeah, it was good for a week. I’m talking since March to now. No sneeze fits. No red eyes. No nothing.”

Triquet and Leroux interest in chaga led to them partnering with Chaga OÜ, a company based in Estonia. Together, the two entities are working to bring chaga farms to Maine by planting wooden chaga plugs into birch trees on private and commercial land.

According to their website, landowners interested in chaga farms make a $3 investment per dowel and are guaranteed a minimum of 800% profit in five years, by purchasing all the chaga back at each of the three harvests.

Triquet and Leroux appeared before the Livermore Falls Board of Selectmen to present their business to the town on Tuesday, Nov. 15. “We believe that this is an exceptional opportunity for the town, and we are grateful to offer it to everyone,” Triquet stated.

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