When it comes time to handing out conservation awards, the Maryland farmer should be at the front of the line.
Farmers dug deep into their own pockets and paid out more than $1.4 million to adopt a record number of on-farm conservation practices last year to protect soil and water from erosion and excess nutrients.
According to a report by the state Department of Agriculture, farmers installed more than 2,100 conservation projects last year.
The state picked up most of the tab by providing $13.1 million in cost-share funding from the Maryland Agricultural Water-Quality Cost-Share program. But farmers will need to pay for any continuing maintenance costs for years to come.
State Agriculture Secretary Roger Richardson said the farmers' actions last year will prevent an estimated 2.7 million pounds of nitrogen and 149,000 pounds of phosphorus from entering Maryland waterways.
In a message to members of the General Assembly, Richardson said, "We look forward to building on the program's successes in 2008 with additional funding for this environmental protection and farm sustainability program."
With help from the state program, farmers adopted a number of conservation practices, including:
The planting of a record 240,410 acres of cover crops statewide. This was nearly double the amount of cover crops planted in 2006.
A cover crop, such as rye, is planted in the fall after farmers harvest their corn and soybean acreage. The rye grows through the winter and absorbs excess nitrogen from the fertilizer and manure used during the summer growing season.
Cover crops are widely recognized as the most cost-effective and environmentally promising way to reduce agricultural runoff into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Last year, farmers, including those growing chickens on the Eastern Shore, transported a record 99,300 tons of excess manure off farms with high soil phosphorus levels to other farms or facilities that could use the resource in an environmentally safe manner.
Sixty animal waste storage structures were built. They will prevent harmful runoff from fields by conserving the nutrient benefits of manure until it can be safely transported or applied to crops for use as a fertilizer.
Last year, the state program expanded its cost-sharing program to include other conservation practices to help farmers manage natural resources more efficiently.
