American Farm, MD
09-05-06
Ag forum chief of staff shares survey results
Environmental opportunities discussed at series finale, session scheduled for
Oct. 25
By STEPHANIE JORDAN
Staff Writer
EASTON, Md. — Area farmers and residents gathered on Aug. 28 to discuss
environmental opportunities for the agricultural community at the historic Avalon
Theatre.
The forum was fourth in the series “Toward a Vision Plan for Sustaining
Agriculture in Talbot County.”
It was the last forum to identify issues and opportunities before the vision plan is
prepared.
Surveys were taken after previous forums, asking those who attended what
agriculture meant to them. Wayne Bell, chief of staff to the steering committee of
the visioning project, presented the results.
Twenty-four people said agriculture contributed to the local and state economy,
tourism and employment, and 19 people said it gave them a sense of community,
history, culture, quality of life and a connection with the land. Seventeen people
said agriculture was important because it leaves open space and a scenic
alternative to sprawl.
Forum surveys also showed that Talbot County should take more of an initiative
to market and brand locally grown products; educate folks about the value of
buying local; and strengthen government-based programs (right-to-farm, land
preservation) for farmers.
Raymond Clarke, Talbot County engineer, gave an update on the county’s
biomass and energy initiative.
The waste to energy committee has been reviewing various concepts and will
have its first meeting after Labor Day. The committee is looking at anaerobic
digestion, trash incineration and gasification or fermentation as possibilities for a
plant in Talbot County.
Clarke said the committee hopes to produce energy recovery, renewable energy
and energy conservation policies for the county. The committee will go before the
county council within the next two months.
The forum featured five panelists on Aug. 28, including two representatives from
the district Natural Resources Conservation Service. Teresa Kampmeyer, district
conservationist, and Craig Zinter, district manager, gave the audience an
overview of NRCS programs that can help farmers.
NRCS programs are designed to help conserve natural resources and show the
farmer how to better manage land while providing funds to that end.
Doug Gill, a biology professor at the University of Maryland at College Park,
talked about restoring grasslands. He said that grasslands have the most species
at risk, so restoring them will have the greatest impact for those animals that are
on top of the endangered and threatened lists.
He is working on restoration at Chino Farms in northern Queen Anne’s County; in
March 1999, nine native grasses were installed on different plots. Within two
years, a prairie had been established.
Gill said learning to manage grasslands has been challenging — deciding what
herbicides to use, setting prescribed fires or learning what species (native,
exotic) to plant.
Since different animals use the habitats in different ways — whether for foraging,
wintering, migrating or breeding — management techniques have to vary from
plot to plot. And Chino Farms has seen a successful restoration.
“You can actually restore human impacted land for wildlife … and management is
key,” Gill said. “If you build a habitat they will come.”
Kenneth Staver, from the Wye Research and Education Center, spoke to the
audience about the pros and cons of switchgrass for energy.
Native switchgrass is relatively easy to establish, and has the ability to stand up
during the winter. Farmers have less inputs to deal with, switchgrass is low
maintenance and builds soil carbon. Weed control is not an issue, and farmers
can use equipment they already have to plant it.
But the problem with the crop is that there isn’t really a use for it, and breaks
down very slowly, so there is still work to be done before switchgrass can be
used to help the energy situation. Currently, the price of using switchgrass for
energy is not competitive, and like any other crop, it can only carry so much of
the energy burden.
Heather Buritsch, an urban horticulturist with Talbot County Cooperative
Extension, talked about the county’s Master Gardener Program. The program is
educating the public about how to care for lawns and gardens in a way that is
safe for the Chesapeake Bay.
The steering committee will draft a vision plan to present at the next public forum,
which will be held Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Avalon Theatre from 7 to 9 p.m.
Frederick Kirschenmann, director of the Aldo Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, will be the keynote
speaker.