Virginia Farmers to Get Resiliency Boost Through Federal Grant

Virginia farmers will get a boost on implementing sustainable practices, like innovative virtual fence collars for livestock, that help their bottom line and support the health of farmland while improving rivers and streams, thanks to a recent grant to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The grant is aimed at promoting regenerative agriculture, or resilient farming. This also includes practices like rotational grazing to improve plant health and enhance the ability of pasture soils to absorb heavy rainfall and store carbon. Other practices, like the creation of streamside grass or forested buffers, filter out nutrients and sediment that pollute downstream waters and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay.

“This grant will fund conservation solutions that can make farmers’ land more profitable, more resilient, and more Bay-friendly,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Watershed Restoration Scientist Matt Kowalski. “We’ll help farmers of all skill levels in Virginia and across the Bay watershed experiment with new sustainable practices like rotational grazing, buffers, and row crop conversion.”

Among the highlights is promoting the use of virtual fence collars, which allow farmers to use a phone app to draw boundaries and contain livestock without physical fences—essentially a higher-tech version of an invisible dog fence. When used with livestock, though, it can not only contain animals but also help implement rotational grazing and build soil health.

The roughly $1 million grant through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Chesapeake Small Watershed Grants Program was awarded earlier this year. NFWF manages the grant, with major funding coming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

CBF is partnering with the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council (VFGC) on parts of the grant, which will help fund:

• Educational materials for farmers including newsletters, schools, field days, and agricultural conferences focused on grazing management
• Virtual fence collars that make it easier for farmers to sub-divide larger fields and move livestock without the expense or hassle of physical fences
• Converting row crops and other acreage to permanent pasture managed with rotational grazing
• Planting five acres of trees along streams and rivers to stabilize banks, prevent erosion, filter polluted runoff before it enters local streams, provide habitat for wildlife, and improve stream health

It will also go toward grazing planners, which offer land management suggestions and tips for farmers based on the season. Also supported are grazing schools, which include field-based instruction and lessons on practices that improve soil health.

As part of the grant, VFGC and CBF will be hosting a grazing school in Madison County on May 12 and 13.

“With these schools and the planner, we’re really building a community of people who are knowledgeable about growing healthy food and are devoted to protecting the environment,” said Matt Booher, a grassland agronomist who works with the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council.

The grant is also funding similar sustainable farming efforts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia for a total of nearly 1,700 acres of farming conservation practices.

“Whether you’re a soybean farmer in the Shenandoah Valley or you’re managing livestock in Loudoun County, CBF and partners like the Virginia Forage and Grassland Council stand ready to help farmers develop sustainable practices that will benefit residents throughout the Commonwealth and beyond,” said Kowalski of CBF.

For more information on how to register for the May grazing school in Madison County, please visit www.vaforages.org.