Im preparing for a discussion today about local food initiatives. So I thought Id highlight one of my favorite programs that the county has launched recently -- the New Farmer Pilot Project. This is like an incubator for the next generation of farmers, and we match new farmers with land owners in our Ag Reserve, so they can get going right away. We need to transition our Ag Reserve, which holds 40% of the countys land and is set aside for farming, to provide more local food. Today our farmers largely raise commodity crops, such as corn and soy, which is used to feed the chickens that are raised on the eastern shore, for meat consumption. Thats fine, but theres a big market for local produce and we can fill it with our own Montgomery County farms. The challenge is that our farmers have a successful business model now and they cant just throw it out the window, particularly as they have made large investments in their equipment and operations. So we need to work out a long term strategy to get this done, which is what we are doing.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 16:44:07 +0000
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