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The Federal Farm Bill provideds funding that offers farmers financial and technical assistance to implement best management practices, such as contour farming (above) to improve the health and productivity of their farms and local waterways. Photo courtesy NRCS Maryland

The Federal Farm Bill

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI) was authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill (aka the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008). This once-every-five-years federal farm bill should have been finished by September 30, but wasn't. Roughly $250 million in financial and technical assistance for farmers is at stake. This important conservation funding is needed to implement the erosion and nutrient pollution controls that will help achieve the Clean Water Blueprint goals. CBF continues to weigh in strongly with senators and representatives, asking that Congress finish the farm bill and provide this important conservation funding. 

These controls are called agricultural "best management practices," or BMPs. They include fencing off streams, planting stream buffers, rotating crops and cattle, using manure management technology, just to name a few examples. The benefits to both farmers and the Chesapeake Bay region are three-fold: 

• they improve soil quality and animal health,
• they help farmers do their part to restore water quality and wildlife habitat,
• and they improve the farm's profitability and sustainability.

Farmers are eager to improve their farms and conservation program support is in great demand. Even with the CBWI, conservation program funding continues to fall short. Each year there are more requests for conservation project funding than can be met.  

Did you know that reducing pollution from farms is the most cost effective way to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus pollution so detrimental to the health of our waterways? It  costs a sewage treatment plant $10 and a farmer $1 to reduce the same amount of pollution.

Today, the Bay states are developing plans to reduce pollution flowing into the Bay, its rivers, and streams. Each plan calls for everyone, from sewage treatment plants and construction companies to farmers and urban residents, to do their part. And in today's economy everyone is looking for the most cost effective solutions. It's clear that conservation program funding, which requires farmers to contribute their own money and sweat as a match, has never been more important.

And conservation funding doesn't just benefit farmers and clean water, it is critical to rural economies. In Virginia, a study determined each public conservation dollar spent spins off $1.56 in local economic activity. In addition, if funded statewide to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup goals, these programs could generate more than 11,700 new Virginia jobs of a year's duration.

Thriving, well-managed farmlands are especially important in the Chesapeake Bay region because they are vital to the long-term health of the Chesapeake and its rivers and streams, contribute significantly to the region's economy, and create jobs that stay here at home.

• In Maryland, agriculture contributes almost $8 billion annually to the state's economy. Approximately 350,000 people are employed in some aspect of agriculture, making it the largest commercial industry in Maryland. It also remains the largest single use of land in the state, accounting for one-third of the state's total land area. In 2007, Maryland's total farm production revenue exceeded $2.38 billion.
• In Pennsylvania, agriculture generates more than $6 billion annually with 63,000 families working more than 7.7 million acres of land. In total, agriculture and related industries contributed more than $60 billion to the state's economy.
• In Virginia, agriculture and related industries are valued at more than $55 billion, sustain more than 350,000 jobs, and work more than 8 million acres of land.

Learn more about the 2008 Farm Bill (PDF 0.24MB)

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