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Spotlight on MarylanD
 AFT recieved a $650,000 grant to support the Mid Atlantic Clean Water Initiative which will implement Enhanced BMP challenge programs in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
AFT launched the Mid Atlantic Clean Water Initiative to help farmers enhance their nutrient management and reduce high nutrient levels that impair local and regional water quality. The new project has started with a $650,000 Conservation Innovation Grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant was part of a $5 million fund specifically for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. By working with producers in the field and at the policy level, AFT hopes to reduce between 200,000 and 270,000 pounds of nitrogen and set the stage to expand the program in each state over three years.
More on the Mid-Atlantic Clean Water Initiative>>
Focus on Maryland
 When we buy locally grown foods we adopt good environmental practices while stimulating the economy by putting money directly in the pockets of our local farmer. Buying local, shortens the distance from farm to food-stand and ensures the freshness of the product. In an effort to further support the locally grown food movement, Governor O’Mally has proposed a Maryland Buy Local Challenge Week, July 19-27, during which he asks residents to eat one item per day from a local farm. When food travels a smaller distance between farm and stand, it means not only delicious food but also less greenhouse gases, and that’s a win-win for everyone.
One of the biggest hurdles for the younger generation wanting to enter farming is the sky-high cost of land. At the final hour of the 2008 Maryland State General Assembly, state legislators passed Senate Bill 662, which addresses the problems of young farmers who want to keep agriculture a part of Maryland’s future. » Read more
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Maryland Project Update
Land fragmentation and foreign competition for local products are a few of the many pressures threatening agriculture in Maryland and the land base that supports it. The Statewide Plan for Agricultural Policy and Resource Management addresses these challenges and establishes a strategic plan for the future of agriculture across the state. AFT helped create the plan that culminates a 15-month process of surveys, listening sessions across the state, and the Governor's Agricultural Forum. In December, 2007, the implementation committee report reveals 100 of the plan’s 109 recommendations have either been completed or are being worked on by some 34 different offices, departments and non-profits. According to the
The Delmarva Farmer The plan could be a vehicle of change, "In the broad sense, in the broadest sense, agriculture needs to keep it cool, it needs to keep focused. These are historic times. We have never been here before.
Maryland farmers will need direction, guideposts, if you will. 'The Plan' could point the way."
»More Projects
A new farm bill: what’s in it for Maryland?
After years of work, we have a new 2008 Farm Bill. What does it mean for you and your community? From the foods we eat, to protecting farms from development, to helping keep our drinking water clean, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 has many programs that affect all of us everyday.
Contact Us
Jim Baird
Mid-Atlantic States Director
1200 18th Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
(p) 202-378-1235 (f) 202-659-8339
jbaird@farmland.org
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