Maryland Permanently Preserves 35 Working Farms

6,670 Acres of Additional Farmland Protected Forever

ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 3, 2024) – The Maryland Board of Public Works approved 35 new Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation easements during their October 2 meeting. The easements will permanently preserve 6,058 acres of prime farmland in Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Kent, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester counties, for an investment of more than $29 million.

“Farmland preservation is a pledge to keep our rural landscapes not as relics of the past, but as vibrant contributors to our economy and to the future of sustainable food,” said Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks.  “Thank you to the farmers who committed their farms to preservation today.”

The Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation was established in 1977 as part of the Maryland Department of Agriculture.The foundation purchases agricultural preservation easements from willing farmers to forever protect prime farmland and woodland.

To view a list of the Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation easements broken down by county, see this chart. Having already achieved the 30% by 2030 goal as outlined in the Maryland the Beautiful Act as passed in the 2023 Session by the Maryland General Assembly, the newly-approved easements will help the state meet the next goal of conserving 40% of state land by 2040.

For more information, please contact the foundation’s Executive Director Michelle Cable at (410) 841-5860 or michelle.cable@maryland.gov.

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