How We Work: Sustainable Agriculture

Working with Farmers

The rural Delmarva Peninsula, tucked between the rich waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the great Atlantic Ocean, is the agricultural engine that helps feed the mid-Atlantic. Agriculture can also help to drive a clean Chesapeake Bay.  

As the region's population continues to grow, along with the demand for food, we must work with our agriculture partners to improve farming practices that will support a thriving industry and improve water quality.

The Nature Conservancy works with farmers and agribusinesses on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to accelerate the adoption of new and emerging technologies and best practices, from the precision application of fertilizer on fields to planting natural buffers between the fields and streams to help absord nutrients before they reach the Chesapeake Bay.

With our partners at the Delaware-Maryland Agribusiness Association, we connected with more than 1,600 farmers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2018, providing tools and education to help them farm more efficiently and more sustainably. This work leads to healthier bottom lines for farmers and a healthier Bay for people and nature.

Scaling Sustainable Agriculture   

Our work with agricultural partners isn't limited to the Eastern Shore. Around the world TNC is fostering innovations in technology, collaborating with agricultural communities and agribusinesses, and promoting policies that enable sustainable framing practices.

TNC is making important investments in growing our sustainable agriculture program in China, the world’s most populous country. Agriculture is a vital industry in China, employing over 300 million farmers. For context, that’s roughly the entire population of the United States.

Improving efficiencies and reducing the environmental impacts of the agricultural industry in China will be a huge win for people and nature. However, China is behind the U.S. when it comes to the widespread adoption of sustainable farming practices. To accelerate the adoption of these practices in China, Ying Li and Nan Zeng, leaders of TNC’s China Ag team, recently spent two weeks touring U.S. farms with local TNC staff and partners.

Ying and Nan’s first stop was Harborview Farms in Rock Hall, Maryland where they learned about precision nitrogen application, cover crops and soil health from farm owner/operator Trey Hill and agribusiness partner Mike Twining of Willard Agri-Service.

Freeing a Trapped River

Surrounding the farms on the Eastern Shore are networks of ditches, streams and rivers that drain most of the Delmarva Peninsula into the Bay. We are using science to restore wetlands and floodplains to filter water and allow water to flow more naturally across the landscape.

Much of our work is focused along the 73-mile long Pocomoke River, which drains water from four Delmarva counties. In the mid-20th century, an 18-mile section of the Pocomoke River was dredged and channelized, disconnecting the river from thousands of acres of floodplain.

Outside a river’s main channel, water spreads out and is slowed by vegetation.  Sediment settles out of the water, and nutrients in the water are used by plants and trees in the floodplain. This natural process helps to reduce erosion and improve water quality.

In 2017, we marked the completion of phase one of one of the largest ecological restoration efforts in Maryland’s history. We restored more than 1,900 acres of floodplains along the Pocomoke River, a key tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. In 2018, we added to that number by restoring more than 1,000 acres of floodplain wetlands in the Pocomoke and Nanticoke River watersheds.  

This scale and impact could not have been achieved without the collaboration of several federal, state and private partners. We are working to replicate this best practice across the Chesapeake Bay watershed and around the world.

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

The Nature Conservancy and The Delaware Maryland Agribusiness Association joined forces to convene the Delmarva Conservation Partnership. This unique public-private collaboration brings together over 30 groups - including conservation organizations, agribusiness, government agencies, and the scientific community - to advance nutrient management practices and to strategically protect and restore wetlands.

With initial funding provided through a $10M partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Delmarva Conservation Partnership committed to achieving the following 5-year goals:

• Improve nutrient management practices on 37,000 acres of farmland
• Protect 1,500 acres of natural filters including wetlands and buffers
• Eliminate 300,000 pounds of nitrogen delivered to local waterways each year
• Eliminate 10,000 pounds of phosphorus delivered to local waterways each year
• Eliminate 20,000 pounds of sediment delivered to local waterways each year

Contact

Amy Jacobs
Agriculture Program Director
Email: ajacobs@tnc.org