{"id":29612,"date":"2026-02-20T12:49:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=29612"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:49:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T17:49:56","slug":"maryland-permanently-preserves-11-additional-working-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2026\/02\/20\/maryland-permanently-preserves-11-additional-working-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Permanently Preserves 11 Additional Working Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Maryland Permanently Preserves 11 Additional Working Farms<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1,479 Acres of Additional Farmland Protected Forever<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD<\/strong>\u00a0(February 20, 2026)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 In an ongoing commitment to preserving Maryland\u2019s agricultural legacy, the\u00a0<\/strong>Maryland Board of Public Works<\/strong>\u00a0has approved 11 new easements through the\u00a0Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation<\/strong>, safeguarding approximately 1,479 acres of prime farmland across\u00a0Anne Arundel<\/strong>,\u00a0Dorchester<\/strong>,\u00a0Queen Anne\u2019s<\/strong>,\u00a0St. Mary\u2019s<\/strong>,\u00a0Somerset<\/strong>, and\u00a0Talbot<\/strong>\u00a0counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting our farmland is crucial to our future and essential for sustaining Maryland\u2019s vibrant agricultural sector. These new easements reflect our dedication to fostering local agriculture, enhancing food security, and conserving our vital natural resources for generations to come,\u201d said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks. \u201cBy investing in these easements now, we are reinforcing the path towards a sustainable agricultural future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Founded in 1977 within the Maryland Department of Agriculture, the Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation is committed to acquiring agricultural preservation easements from farmers who wish to protect their land. This initiative ensures that valuable farmland and woodlands remain intact for future agricultural endeavors. The\u00a0newly approved easements<\/a>\u00a0are integral in sustaining Maryland’s farming landscape, enhancing local food systems, and supporting the economies of rural communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This latest effort marks an important step in Maryland’s broader conservation goals, building on the recent achievement of the 30% by 2030 objective set forth by the Maryland Beautiful Act, which was endorsed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2023. These easements will further advance the ambitious target of protecting 40% of the state\u2019s land by 2040. For more information, please contact the foundation\u2019s Executive Director, Michelle Cable, at (410) 841-5860 or michelle.cable@maryland.gov.
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Maryland Permanently Preserves 11 Additional Working Farms 1,479 Acres of Additional Farmland Protected Forever ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0(February 20, 2026)\u00a0\u2013 In an ongoing commitment to preserving Maryland\u2019s agricultural legacy, the\u00a0Maryland Board of Public Works\u00a0has approved 11 new easements through the\u00a0Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation, safeguarding approximately 1,479 acres of prime farmland across\u00a0Anne Arundel,\u00a0Dorchester,\u00a0Queen Anne\u2019s,\u00a0St. Mary\u2019s,\u00a0Somerset, and\u00a0Talbot\u00a0counties. \u201cProtecting our  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"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":[403,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mda-newsroom","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\/29612","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\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29614,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29612\/revisions\/29614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}