Expedition Chesapeake Focuses on Farmers

students review Price farm conservation plan -- photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Sixteen FFA students from Virginia are using their high school summer vacation to paddle down 355 miles of local rivers and creeks to the Chesapeake Bay and learning first-hand what farmers are doing to protect water quality. Sponsored in part by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and L.L. Bean, Expedition Chesapeake students are keeping a daily journal of their 30-day water quality monitoring effort featured in a web-based virtual field trip.

Their journey began on June 24th stopping along the way to hear from top experts as well as conservation award-winning farmers. On their fourth day the FFA students docked at Julian and Patty Price’s 1,000-acre beef operation where Virginia NRCS State Conservationist M. Denise Doetzer and other conservation leaders spoke to them about bay-related challenges and opportunities faced by agriculture in the Chesapeake watershed.

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“Good information is what people need most,” said Doetzer. She used the Price’s conservation plan to show how NRCS works with farmers to address natural resource needs. She pointed out conservation practices installed on the model conservation farm including fencing to keep cattle out of streams, alternative watering sources, and forested riparian buffers along streams. She noted that cost-sharing from federal programs such as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program can help farmers defray costs for installing these practices. Other panel members included 2005 Legislator of the Year Allen Louderback, Director of the Virginia Department Conservation and Recreation Joe Maroon, and President of the Virginia Poultry Federation Hobey Bauhan.
Your contact is Dastina Johnson, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 804-287-1609.