The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, in partnership with Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (MDVA), was today awarded $1 million to begin supporting farmers of Maola Local Dairies in Virginia with on-the-ground conservation practices. Funding is awarded by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant Program. The funding will be maximized through a strategic public-private partnership which includes MDVA, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and Giant.
“Our dairy farmers don’t skim on sustainability,” said Lindsay Reames, Vice President, Sustainability & External Relations. “As we celebrate National Dairy Month as a cooperative, we are thrilled to receive these National Fish & Wildlife Foundation funds to expand our sustainability investments to our dairy farm families in Virginia. We are continuously growing our sustainability portfolio to prove that Maola Milk is the sustainable milk choice for our communities.”
The grant enables the public-private partnership model, known as the Clean Water Partnership, to expand its conservation reach to dairy farmers in Virginia that produce Maola Milk. Specifically, the funding will accelerate the rate and scale of water quality improvements by implementing proven water quality improvement practices on Virginia dairy farms. The work conducted through this project is expected to reduce 18,554.95 lbs of nitrogen, 4,625.12 lbs of phosphorus, and 1,714.08 tons of sediment pollution to restore water quality in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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