Maryland advocates push specialty crop support, conservation for 2023 farm bill

The bill authorizes billions of dollars in a dozen areas ranging from crop price supports to forestry, with most funding set aside for nutrition programs.

Chesapeake farmers target runoff reduction, lawmakers seek conservation funds

MIDDLETOWN, Maryland — A gaggle of excitable white turkeys gobbled and clucked in their pen at Open Book Farm on a chilly afternoon in late October. Most days, the birds roamed free in one of the farm’s pastures, scratching and…

Sponsor of bill to legalize hemp in Maryland thinks this is the year

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland — Proponents of industrial hemp say legalization of the cannabis relative offers many potential benefits, and, if a bill in the state Legislature is approved, Maryland might be part of a growing acceptance of the plant. A key…

Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay defenders hold breath, wait on Senate

WASHINGTON — If the Senate does not restore a deep, House-passed cut in federal funding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, the ripple effect on Maryland conservation efforts could be far larger than what the state would lose…

Threats mount against Chesapeake Bay conservation efforts

After years of steady progress for Chesapeake Bay clean-up efforts, the conservation outlook is increasingly bleak for the country’s largest estuary—and the state that depends on it most, Maryland—says bay advocates.

Inmates Help Feed the Less Fortunate

Bernie Fowler Jr., a Southern Maryland builder and farmer, is giving some pre-release inmates a second chance by helping them help needy people.

Poultry Association Looking for Connections Between Attorney General, Environmental Groups

Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., a non-profit trade association, filed a public information request with Attorney General Doug Gansler’s office this week to learn more about Gansler’s Environmental Advisory Council and its relationship with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic.

Students Across the State Get a Taste of Maryland

Public school students across the state are eating locally grown foods in an effort to help the local farming economy.