Legislation recently introduced in Pennsylvania would provide tax credits to farmers and agricultural businesses to improve the stewardship of agricultural lands. The proposed Resource Enhancement and Protection Tax Credit Program would encourage private investment in farm best management practices, such as the planting of riparian buffers and sediment remediation.

Under the proposed legislation, each eligible applicant may receive a total tax credit of up to $150,000, either for a single project or for multiple projects from the same applicant. Eligible projects would receive a tax credit ranging from 25 percent to 75 percent of the project cost, depending on the type of project. In addition, these tax credits would be transferable, with the applicant allowed to transfer the credits to another tax payer if they do not have sufficient tax liability to make use of the credit. The bill calls for an annual limit of $50,000,000 for FY 2006-2007, and $100,000,000 for FY 2007-2008 to 2010-2011.

Governor Edward G. Rendell signed legislation that adds additional flexibility to the Commonwealth’s agricultural conservation easement purchase program. Under Senate Bill 723 county governments may now partner with land trusts and townships in jointly acquiring easements with the state. more

Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell released a record amount of $102 million in state funds and $45 million in matching money under his $625 million Growing Greener II initiative, which will allow for the preservation of an additional 2,000 farms.
Read the press release.

Chesapeake Bay States Tackle Water Quality Issue

Pennsylvania and the bay states of Virginia and Maryland have undertaken significant efforts to improve their waterways.

Though all life needs nutrients to grow, too much of a good thing harms aquatic life in local streams and grand estuaries, the nurseries for most ocean fish.

Through our Agriculture and Environment Campaign, we are working with farmers to clean the Chesapeake Bay.

To clean our water, we need to reduce nutrients at their sources:

• farmland, fertilizers and manure
• municipal sewage systems that must expand due to growing populations
• and the great American lawn where fertilizers (often applied at rates much higher than needed) run off into storm drains.
  

Money Can’t Buy Happiness but it Can Provide Clean Rivers and a Healthy Chesapeake Bay

Thousands of Pennsylvania citizens stormed the polls on Election Day and stamped a resounding YES on their ballots for the Clean Water referendum. This referendum is the first step in ensuring water rate relief for PA residents as well as providing a strengthened economy and providing assistance to farmers who want to do their part to clean the bay. A broad coalition of supporters spread the word about the benefits of the referendum and the Fair Share Coalition consisting of 41 organizations including the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Municipal Authorities Association, the Builders Association the Association of Conservation Districts, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Although SB 1341 did not meet all the requests put forth by the Fair Share Coalition including $50 million dollars in aid to farmers to install conservation practices through the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) program, this bill does move Pennsylvania in the right direction towards addressing pollution in the bay.

Funding Failures Point to the Need for Cooperation in Order to Clean Bay

Among the programs to receive funding is the highly sought after Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Tax Credit. The REAP program passed through the state legislature in July of 2007 and provided $10 million in tax credits to farmers utilizing best management conservation techniques. The $10 million allocated in last year’s budget was drained in a matter of only 10 days.

Unfortunately, the REAP program passed without a significant increase in funding for agriculture to help farmers reduce their share of the nutrients polluting the Chesapeake bay. More work needs to be done to ensure that funding is made available to help farmers become a part of the solution.

American Farmland Trust's projects in Pennsylvania enlist farmers, environmentalists, urbanites and rural dwellers—everybody must work together if agriculture is to have a chance.

Farmers take on pollution with AFT’s BMP Challenge

Though this challenge has nothing to do with extreme sports, these farmers are still involved in taking risks. Farmers are preparing to grow corn crop with a less of a key ingredient: nitrogen—one of the key determinants of the crop yield. Putting on too little could mean serious profit losses, especially with corn prices at historic highs. However, nitrogen fertilizer prices are also rising and over-application can eat into the bottom line as well. But, nitrogen has another cost as any environmentally concerned citizen in the Chesapeake Bay region can tell you: Nitrogen from numerous sources is over fertilizing the Bay causing problems with plant and animal life alike. Read more.