Maryland farmers can earn a one-time signing bonus of $1,000 an acre for planting new forest buffers beside cropland and waterways on working farms under the state's Conservation Buffer Initiative, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced, Farms.com reported on 30 October. Applications open at local soil conservation district offices from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027.
Buffers along streams, ditches and cropland cut soil erosion, keep nutrient runoff out of waterways and improve wildlife habitat. "Protecting our land, water and the Chesapeake Bay is everyone's responsibility and we are proud to invest in farmers who turn that shared commitment into action," said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks.
Three practices qualify: forest buffers along waterways next to cropland, grass buffers beside waterways or field ditches, and watercourse access control areas next to pastures. Payments range from $500 an acre for existing grass buffers to up to $4,500 an acre for new riparian forest buffers that include pasture fencing, with annual maintenance payments for forest buffers in the first five years. Contracts run five or ten years, 75% of approved costs are paid upfront and the rest after verification, and soil conservation districts give free technical help.
Nutrients may not be applied inside enrolled buffers, though farmers may mow them and cut hay for their own use. Projects must be finished within a year of signing, expiring grass buffer contracts can now be re-enrolled for five more years, and funding is limited and given on a first-come, first-served basis. The initiative, now seven years old, also feeds the state's tree-planting drive for water quality, climate resilience and public health.
Photo: USDA / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: Farms.com
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