Farmers and Landowners

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What is Land Conservation?

Land conservation refers to the processes and procedures involved in preserving, restoring, and preventing the deterioration of land as a natural resource. It includes measures taken to control soil erosion and sedimentation, and policies surrounding land trusts. Land conservation also includes conservation of water resources.

Land Trusts in Maryland:

Click Here for a list of Land Trusts in Maryland.

Maps of preserved areas statewide and by County

The state has done a great job mapping both agricultural land and preserved land. Please look at their maps. They recommend using the Firefox browser, but Google Chrome also works well.

MARC is located at the Baltimore Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park in Cockeysville, Maryland. The Center is comprised of a 149 acre farm – most of which is preserved under a permanent agricultural easement.

MARC lists links we think are especially useful for farmers and prospective farmers. We have been selective to give you better choices. We welcome your suggestions.

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Farm Service Agency “Your Guide to Farm Loan Programs” This online guide provides information about FSA’s farm loans and loan servicing options. A list of additional resources is also included in the guide.

Farmlink Helps those who want to farm find land to buy or rent for farming. Please share your land information if you have land that you want to see farmed, and if you are looking for land to farm, post your interest. The site is new but is growing and will be steadily broadening the area served as people submit posts. SMADC (Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission) office in southern Maryland maintains this web site.

Farm Permit Requirements
Farmers might find this booklet useful. On Page 18 is a Checklist of Possible Approvals Needed for Agricultural Activities.

NRCS This link is for the office Located at the Ag Center in Baltimore County. We have linked you directly to the Staff page with their photos and contact info.

Maryland Department of Agriculture. Site is rich with information for Farmers and the Community. Technical resources as well as marketing informaton.

Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center , a service of the U MD Extension office, provides successful rural business innovation strategies for your farm business plan, and your production and management techniques. Learn anywhere by using the many distance learning tools delivered on MREDC in audio, video, or other interactive format that are organized in modules.

USDA Grants Loans and Support “Whether you are an individual farmer looking to extend your growing season, a cooperative of growers looking to rebuild a food hub, a farmers’ market that wants to accept SNAP benefits, a community kitchen that needs cold storage to store locally procured meat, or anyone in between, this short guide to our programs might come in handy.”

American Farmland Trust Great site with lots of resources for farmers

University of Maryland’s Agricultural Law Education Initiative

Grow It Eat It Planting Calendar

Grow It Eat It. Vegetable gardening classes throughout Maryland run by master garderners from the Univ. of Maryland Extension offices. Many counties are listed with a link to classes held in that specific county.

Marylands Best Great site to help you find local markets and products. Maintained by the Maryland Department of Agriculture — the site lets you sort by ZIP code, category, distance, keyword, city or county.

Grow your own vegetable garden A great guide for how to grow your own fruits and veggies!

Our site, Farming Faces is similar with the added asset of showing you where the farm or market is on a map.

Baltimore County

Farm Clubs
Four H

Other Important Links