$23 Million in Farm Bill Funding to Support Agricultural Conservation Practices in Chesapeake Region

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released $23 million for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative, a program of the 2008 Farm Bill that provides the region’s farmers with assistance to implement vital agricultural conservation practices to help clean up the Bay.

The funding will support nutrient management, cover crops, crop residue management, vegetative buffers and other agricultural conservation practices that help reduce pollution flowing into the streams, creeks and rivers that feed the Bay.

Eligible private farmland owners will receive technical and financial assistance to address wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water and related concerns. The funding will also provide land owners with assistance to plan, design, implement and evaluate habitat conservation and restoration.

“The Chesapeake Bay Watershed initiative is an important source of technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers who want to go the extra mile to improve and protect the Bay,” said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.

Farmland covers almost one-quarter of the Chesapeake watershed and is the largest single source of nutrient and sediment pollution to the Bay, contributing an estimated 42 percent of nitrogen, 46 percent of phosphorus and 72 percent of sediment annually.

The $23 million is the first part of a total of $188 million that the region will receive through the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative over the next four years. This is one of the largest single federal investments in the Bay clean-up effort and an unprecedented targeting of Farm Bill resources to a specific watershed. Congress has authorized future funding levels of $43 million in 2010, $72 million in 2011 and $50 million in 2012.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will administer the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative. Many Chesapeake Bay Program partners, including the six Bay states and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, provided key input and information that supported the initiative’s authorization in the 2008 Farm Bill.