Farm Bill money will help farmers during tough economic times
WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) today announced that $23 million was released to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative as part of the 2008 Farm Bill. As a member of the Committee, Senator Casey worked to have this funding included in the bill which will help farmers to meet water quality requirements and stay in business during these tough economic times.
“As part of the Chesapeake Bay region, Pennsylvania takes the health of the bay and the economy of the areas surrounding the bay very seriously,” said Casey. “Farmers across the Commonwealth are struggling to stay afloat. This program will help them to meet water quality requirements and stay in business and I am pleased that the United States Department of Agriculture has been able to release these funds when they are needed most.”
“Conservation funding was a primary motivation for me in voting for passage of the Farm Bill,” Senator Specter said. “The clean up and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay should be a national priority, and as a significant source of water for the bay, the cleanup costs borne by Pennsylvanians are significant. I am pleased to see the release of these targeted funds which will ease the burden on my constituents.”
Senator Casey secured $188 million in mandatory funding for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative in the 2008 Farm Bill. The program provides greater opportunities for farmers to become partners in restoring this tremendous natural resource by providing cost-share assistance for conservation projects that will improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Supported agricultural conservation practices such as nutrient management, cover crops, crop residue management and vegetative buffers will help farmers meet state and federal laws designed to improve water quality, preserve and enhance natural resources, and reduce the pollutants flowing into the streams, creeks and rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay. Forty-one counties in Pennsylvania are located in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America, with a length of 200 miles and 11,684 miles of tidal shoreline, more than the entire U.S. West Coast. About 100,000 streams and rivers thread through the Chesapeake’s 64,000-square-mile watershed, which is home to almost 17 million people. The Chesapeake Bay supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals.
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