Agriculture
Since 2006 the CBFN, a collaboration of regional non profit foundations, is sharing information and pooling their resources toward a common mission in agriculture to support viable and sustainable farming while enhancing water quality. The CBFN is now piloting five innovative and technologically feasible, cost-effective, and transferable models for dealing with the problem of excess nutrients – that is, production systems that overuse fertilizers and create quantities of animal waste that exceed the carrying capacity of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. There are too few programs designed to enable agricultural leaders and their communities to share and transfer the results of on-the-ground conservation projects by communicating lessons learned and creating working collaborations that extend beyond the life of specific projects. The CBFN is showcasing success stories and is making tangible progress to fill this gap. As it proceeds, the CBFN is creating its unique roadmap guide for others to duplicate and expand the process. Our overarching objectives remain the same. The project targets geographic “hotspots” of nutrient impairment such as the Shenandoah Valley, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Maryland Eastern Shore. It focuses on working “from the ground up,” i.e. using local teams of scientists, businesses, farmers, agricultural organizations, and public groups to identify key problems and construct their solutions. The four principal objectives in the Initiative and the activities are as follows:
Agriculture Initiative's Making News
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