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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
 Eating local and supporting local farms has never been easier thanks to the University of Maryland’s newly released virtual farmers market. This site allows consumers to find a local farm selling everything under the sun from Apples to Watermelons. This easy to navigate guide demonstrates how simple and rewarding it can be to source a delicious diet right in your backyard. Visit FoodTrader.org and start ordering-up local today.
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AFT's Mid-Atlantic Director Jim Baird and Governor O'Malley at cookout celebrating Maryland "Eat Local Week" |
Governor O’Malley invited local farmers to a Maryland cookout on the front lawn of the Government House in Annapolis. There has been increasing interest in the local foods movement, and local foods are now easier to find than ever with greater numbers of grocery stores appealing to the demand for fresh local food. The University of Baltimore Schaefer Center for Public Policy found that 77 percent of Marylanders are more likely to buy produce that is grown by a Maryland farmer, and 44 percent say they are willing to pay some premium for farm products that would support local farmers.
Edible Learning: Kids Discover the Value of Farmland in Sustainable Schoolyards
Got Land? Maryland Young Farmers Get a Boost
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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