Sara Smith knows that farming is the most rewarding and frustrating job. What the organic farmer finds even more frustrating, however, is finding financing.

"The biggest challenge that we have had has been access to capital," Smith, who owns and manages Grassland Farm in Skowhegan, Maine, said. "Farmers have different needs than a lot of other businesses. Some banks were frank enough to say, we don't loan to farmers – don't waste your time."

But Smith and a growing number of small farmers and food producers may soon have a credit union that understands their distinct agricultural business needs. The proposed credit union, now a work-in-progress, is the Maine Harvest Credit Project, which operates under the sponsorship of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and the Maine Farmland Trust. The project is being organized by a small group of about 15 people including a former Wall Street stock analyst, an international investment consultant and the granddaughter of the 32nd president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.