Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Receives $1 Million Grant to work with Farmers, Turkey Hill Dairy and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Funding will support installing best management conservation practices on farms
Reston, Virginia (December 5, 2018): Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (Maryland & Virginia) in partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Turkey Hill Dairy have been awarded a $1 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This funding will support dairy farmers in meeting their sediment and nutrient reduction goals through a collaborative public-private partnership between the Alliance, Turkey Hill Dairy, and Maryland & Virginia.
The funding will build on an existing partnership with Turkey Hill and Maryland & Virginia to support farmers who are providing milk to Turkey Hill in meeting their conservation goals, thereby improving local stream health. In January 2018, Turkey Hill established an incentive for all farmers supplying their plant to become conservation compliant. Maryland & Virginia field representatives are working with dairy farmer members who supply Turkey Hill to identify on-farm needs for Conservation Plans, Manure Management Plans and Nutrient Management Plans. The goal is to improve local stream health which will lead to improving the quality of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
“This partnership has brought together multiple sectors of the dairy industry and developed an innovate approach to helping farmers reach conservation compliance,” “said Lindsay Reames, Manager of Animal Care and Sustainability for Maryland & Virginia. “The NFWF grant dollars will allow us to provide funding for our farmers to implement conservation practices on their farms at an accelerated pace.” This project will provide farmers with the technical and financial assistance necessary to meet Turkey Hill’s commitments for sustainable milk production. The Clean Water Partnership will provide 75% cost share assistance to farmers implementing conservation practices on their dairy farms.
The Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership is focused in Lancaster County and surrounding central Pennsylvania counties within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This project is the first of its kind in bringing together dairy farmers, non-profits and the private sector to work to incentivize and fund conservation planning and implementation on farms.
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is a large ecosystem that encompasses approximately 64,000 square miles in six states (Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York) plus the District of Columbia. Although the project will provide farmers with the technical and financial assistance necessary to meet Turkey Hill’s commitments for sustainable milk production. The Alliance will reimburse the farmer for up to 75% of the cost of implementing the best management practices.
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Contact: Lindsay Reames, Manager of Sustainability & Animal Care
804-370-4324, lreames@mdvamilk.com
