Chesapeake Bay agriculture needs more federal assistance, study says

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005

UPPER MARLBORO — The precarious financial position of the region’s farmers, who are under pressure to sell their land to developers and often unable to afford environmentally friendly practices, threatens the health of Maryland’s waterways, according to a report released Tuesday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The study, the first of its kind by the foundation, used 12 indicators — including the number and size of farms, fertilizer efficiency and soil erosion — to evaluate the health of farming in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The indicators were chosen after consultation with farmers, agricultural researchers and environmentalists.

William C. Baker, president of the foundation, said the goal of the report is to promote ‘‘stability, profitability, and environmental sustainability” among farmers.

All but two indicators in the report were ranked ‘‘unhealthy” or ‘‘weak.” No indicator earned a ‘‘healthy” ranking.

Among the biggest problems facing the region’s farmers, according to the report, are a decline in the total acres of farmland, the shrinking percentage of consumers’ food spending that goes to farmers, and the accumulation of excess phosphorus in the soil.

Another area that draws concern is the distribution of federal farm payments, which the foundation says are not granted to Chesapeake Bay-area farmers in the same proportion as they are given to farmers in other parts of the nation. Chesapeake farmers receive an average of 4 cents in federal agricultural funding for every dollar in production; the national average is 6 cents.

In giving the federal payment system a ‘‘weak” rating, the report also spelled out what it would take to improve the situation: More money to local farmers would raise the rating to ‘‘good,” but a ‘‘healthy” rating would come only when farm economics were strong enough to support farmers without ongoing federal crop subsidies.

Earl ‘‘Buddy” Hance, president of the Maryland Farm Bureau, called the report a welcome shift. ‘‘Agriculture needs all the partners it can get,” he said.