The nation?s top agriculture official announced a proposal that would conserve more land in Maryland and help farmers cut down on pollution.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns proposed major changes to the federal farm bill, which will shape the face of agriculture for the next five years. The current bill will expire this year.
Johanns? plan includes an extra $7.8 billion for land conservation funding, including an extra $2.1 billion for the voluntary Wetlands Reserve Program. That would allow more of the Bay?s wetlands to be protected and enhanced, instead of being farmed, said Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner. There were 3,456 acres of land in Maryland preserved in the program in 2003, the most recent data that was available on the department?s Web site. “We know [farmers] want to conserve things for the next generation, and we try to give them the economic incentives to makeit happen,” Conner said. However, conservation is not a high priority for Maryland farmers, said Valerie Connelly, director of government relations for the Maryland Farm Bureau, a nonprofit that represents state farming interests.
“In Maryland, we?re not at the point where we have too much land. We?re at the point where we can?t find land to farm anymore due to development pressure.” Connelly said.
The best measures are the ones that allow farmers to keep farming their existing land, while incorporating more environmentally sound practices that cut down on pollution, Connelly said. Agriculture is the leading cause of nutrient pollution in the Bay, making up over 40 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorus that pollutes the Bay.
Some of those environmental practices include planting “cover crops” between harvests, to suck up the nutrients before they flow into the Bay, and better managing of animal waste. Johanns? plan includes an extra $4.2 billion for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which allows farmers to cut down on nutrient pollution. “The farmers who are the ones living on their farms, drinking the water ? if they are imprudent with natural resources they would be the first to feel the effect,” Conner said.
