{"id":28298,"date":"2024-06-20T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=28298"},"modified":"2024-06-18T11:24:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T15:24:13","slug":"department-invests-993000-in-innovative-soil-health-and-agroforestry-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2024\/06\/20\/department-invests-993000-in-innovative-soil-health-and-agroforestry-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Department Invests $993,000 in Innovative Soil Health and Agroforestry Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"28299\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2024\/06\/20\/department-invests-993000-in-innovative-soil-health-and-agroforestry-practices\/attachment\/healthy-soils-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?fit=940%2C788&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"940,788\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Healthy Soils\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?fit=300%2C251&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?fit=760%2C637&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-28299\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?resize=300%2C251\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?resize=300%2C251&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?resize=768%2C644&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/06\/Healthy-Soils.png?w=940&amp;ssl=1 940w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\"><strong>ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 20, 2024)\u00a0<\/strong> The<strong> Maryland Department of Agriculture<\/strong> has announced that 23 projects will receive grant funding totaling $993,000 through the <a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/resource_conservation\/Pages\/Soil-Health.aspx\">Healthy Soils Competitive Fund<\/a>. This pioneering grant program provides financial assistance to qualifying farms and organizations\u2014both large and small\u2014that adopt innovative conservation practices that benefit climate, soil, and water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">\u201cWe are excited by the enthusiasm and creativity of Maryland farmers who participated in this program. In its second year, the Healthy Soils Competitive Fund saw a 50% increase in grant awards for innovative soil health and agroforestry practices,\u201d said <strong>Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks<\/strong>. \u201cThese practices ensure a brighter, more sustainable future for healthy food, cleaner waterways, and climate resilience.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Established in 2023, the Healthy Soils Competitive Fund provides winning applicants up to $50,000 to support three years of enhanced healthy soil and agroforestry practices. Grant recipients receive up to 40% of the funds upfront, with the remainder distributed annually following verification of progress. Innovative conservation practices supported by the fund in 2024 include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Intensive cover cropping\u00a0combined with\u00a0alternative\u00a0inputs\u00a0to reduce the use of synthetic\u00a0nutrients\u00a0in row crops\u20145 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Equipment and field trials for reduced tillage in vegetable production systems\u20144 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Establishment of silvopasture systems, alley cropping, and windbreaks to provide shade and forage for grazing livestock\u20143 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">On-farm composting system improvement and\u00a0soil amendment trials\u20142 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Annual cover crops for improved forage in\u00a0rotational\u00a0grazing systems\u20142 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Conservation cover, hedgerow planting, and land resting in small intensive production systems\u20142 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Whole farm conservation practices for small-scale vegetable and cut flower production\u20142 projects<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Enhanced\u00a0Soil testing and soil health resource development for an urban farm network\u20141 project<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Pasture establishment and\u00a0rotational\u00a0grazing\u20141 project<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"list-style-type: disc\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Removal of diseased ash trees and invasive species\u00a0for\u00a0re-establishment of a forest buffer with native trees and shrubs\u20141 project<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Maryland\u2019s Health Soils Competitive Fund was developed based on recommendations by the<strong> Soil Health Advisory Committee<\/strong>. Funding support is provided by the <strong>Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund<\/strong> and the <strong>Moore-Miller administration\u2019s support<\/strong> of the <strong>Climate Solutions Now Act<\/strong>. Farm size is not a consideration for grant approval. In the program\u2019s second year, the department received 57 applications from farmers across the state, with 23 applicants selected for funding. In addition to the conservation practices listed above, grant awardees will share progress over the course of the grant term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Maryland\u2019s Healthy Soils Competitive Fund accepts applications during its annual open enrollment, which takes place for approximately 8 weeks beginning in January. For updates and more about the program please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/mda.maryland.gov\/resource_conservation\/Pages\/Soil-Health.aspx\">website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\"># # #<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', serif\">Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MdAgDept\">@MdAgDept<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 20, 2024)\u00a0 The Maryland Department of Agriculture has announced that 23 projects will receive grant funding totaling $993,000 through the Healthy Soils Competitive Fund. This pioneering grant program provides financial assistance to qualifying farms and organizations\u2014both large and small\u2014that adopt innovative conservation practices that benefit climate, soil, and water.\u00a0 \u201cWe are excited<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2024\/06\/20\/department-invests-993000-in-innovative-soil-health-and-agroforestry-practices\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28300,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28298\/revisions\/28300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}