For the first time, Maryland is giving small-scale farmers a similar financial boost for cover crops that larger-scale farmers have enjoyed for years. Starting this year, Maryland Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Small Acreage Cover Crop Program allows farmers who plant less than five acres of cover crops to receive a reimbursement of up to $1,500 per year for the purchase of cover crop seed. 

At the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), we applaud MDA for establishing the new program and see it as a model for other states in the Bay watershed. Cover crops are typically cereal grains planted between growing seasons that help improve Bay water quality by trapping pollutants such as nitrogen, improving soil health, and preventing erosion. 

Previously, cover crop benefits were only available to farmers who plant five acres or more of cover crops. The state’s expansion of this benefit highlights an effort to increase equity between small and large farms.  

Small farmers can grow a lot of vegetables on a couple acres of land and the majority of these farmers market directly to local consumers. These smaller farms typically provide local vegetables to communities while implementing Bay-friendly farming practices, including the use of cover crops, no tillage, and organic fertilizers, which assists with Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. 

The widespread adoption of regenerative practices among small-scale and urban farms shows how this sector can help to promote environmentally responsible agriculture. 

The new program will also help to address the historical imbalance between small and large farms. Government farm programs are often biased in favor of larger operations, leaving small-scale and urban farms excluded due to eligibility requirements, such as farm size. As a result, more money has gone to supporting large-scale corn and soybean production, which is used mostly as livestock feed, with a small fraction of benefits left to support the smaller vegetable farmers. 

Supporting smaller farms is also an investment in the health of our communities. These farms produce fresh, healthy food near where people live, and reach consumers who may struggle to access fresh food. By increasing local food production, smaller farms can reduce greenhouse gas emissions generated by transporting food. According to a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center For A Livable Future, close to 90% of the vegetables eaten in Maryland come from out of state. By supporting local growers, we can reduce this percentage and the carbon footprint of Maryland’s food system.   

CBF encourages farmers who operate small farms to apply for this funding program to improve soil health, farm productivity, and increase their economic bottom line. Small farms help build strong communities, and we commend MDA for their support of this critical program.  

By Isabella Bruno is Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland Agriculture Equity Project Coordinator 

In modern parlance, “witch hunt” has come to mean the unjust ostracism of an innocent victim. During his reign as president, Mister Trump used the term more than 330 times in defense of accusations of wrongdoing.

On September 25, 2019 he called his impending (first) impeachment trial “the greatest witch hunt in American history.” On January 31 of this year, in a deposition over financial fraud in New York, he called the investigation “the greatest witch hunt ever.” And two days ago, he said of the guilty verdict on charges of sexual assault and defamation brought by Ms. Carroll, that it was a “disgrace…a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.” Thank goodness we have reached the greatest of the great witch hunts, as I don’t think there can be something greater than the greatest of all time.

Are complaints by our Grievance President justified? Is he an innocent victim of unjust political, feminine, and societal persecution?

As president, did he accomplish what he set out to do? Did he Make American Great Again? Did he unite our people so we could better accomplish great things under common purpose, or did he divide us as we have never been divided before?

What does MAGA mean? Doesn’t it mean Make America White Again? Doesn’t it represent resistance to the browning of America and all those foreign invaders?

Why is Trump the favorite of American Nazis, the KKK, antisemites, and other “Christian” white supremacist groups?

Why do farmers like him? Is it because he gave them subsidies for loss sales of grain crops to China, a problem he himself initiated by putting tariffs on Chinese goods? Should he be thought a hero for solving a problem he created?

Why do gun buyers/owners like him? At bottom, isn’t it because of the fear and mistrust of “the other” he reinforced in our society?

Why do the most-wealthy like him? The answer is too obvious to state.

Why is it that his administration saw the greatest turnover of any in history? What does this say about his judgment of “the best people” and what they thought of him? And if they were the best people, what does that say about a leader who cannot retain them? Ask any competent manager of people and she will tell you.

If witch hunts are the search for hypothetically evil people, I offer that we have actually found a real one.

Bob Moores retired from Black & Decker/DeWalt in 1999 after 36 years. He was the Director of Cordless Product Development at the time. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University