The items and links on this page are provided here for reference. They are no longer current.

General Assembly Passes Important Ag Land Preservation Funding Bill (SB 662)

With little time remaining on the last night of the 2008 Maryland General Assembly session, final approval was secured for Senate Bill 662, Agricultural Land Transfer Tax - Rates and Distribution of Revenue, sponsored by Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton. In the end, SB 662 garnered broad bi-partisan support from both urban and rural legislators, but getting this bill over the finish line required the concerted effort of several agricultural organizations, land preservation groups, and, most especially, many young farmers and their advocates around State. The Maryland Department of Agriculture lent its support to this legislative effort too, and Governor Martin O’Malley has already announced that he plans to sign SB 662 into law.

Senate Bill 662, as amended, will impose a 25% surcharge on the existing agricultural land transfer tax with all of the new revenues collected going to support State-side rural land preservation efforts. Child lots of 2 acres or less will be exempt. (The ag transfer tax is only paid when farmland is taken out of agricultural use, and is typically paid by the buyer/developer.) Senate Bill 662 is expected to generate an additional $2-3 million for State agricultural land preservation programs during FY 2009, and in a robust economy the effect of SB 662 could generate has much as $6 million annually in new rural land preservation funding.

Amendments adopted to SB 662 late in the legislative session have the effect the tying the new revenues generated as a result of the surcharge authorized in SB 662 to funding the Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program to be offered by MARBIDCO beginning this coming fall. The Next Generation Program is a strategically important program for the long-term viability of agriculture in Maryland, and it was authorized – but not funded – in the Agricultural Stewardship Act of 2006.

Maryland agriculture is nearing a potentially critical juncture. With an aging farmer population and skyrocketing real estate prices due to population increases and development pressure, it appears that much remaining farmland might be in danger of disappearing forever. The Young Farmers Advisory Board and other agricultural industry groups report that a major impediment to the future success of the next generation of farmers is their ability to purchase farmland at affordable prices. A partial solution to this problem is a reasonably well-financed and rapid response-type farmland easement purchase option program to help facilitate the transfer of farmland to a new generation of farmers. This new generation of agriculturalists would, in turn, help support the economies of rural communities, retain the rural working landscape, and sustain a critical mass for the agricultural industry activity in this State. An additional advantage of the Next Generation Program is that it would help permanently preserve considerable agricultural land from future development, thus providing significant open space and water/air quality benefits. As noted above, SB 662 provides important initial funding for the Next Generation Program.

Senate Bill 662 also dedicates $4 million to the MARBIDCO/MALPF Installment Purchase Agreements (IPA) Program with the flexibility for MALPF to be able to use these funds on a “leveraged” basis so that more easement purchases can be made sooner, and at a relatively lower cost. MARBIDCO will act as MALPF’s agent in facilitating the agricultural easement sale transactions through the purchase of U.S Treasury securities. However, there is no requirement that MALPF use these IPA funds in a leveraged fashion. In fact, because the IPA program is relatively new, it is anticipated that during the first couple of years a significant portion of the funds will be used on a “self-funded” basis, in effect acting as a supplement to the existing MARBIDCO/MALPF “self-funded” IPA program.

What are the anticipated benefits of SB 662?  In FY 2009 alone, the Next Generation Program itself will help preserve approximately 400 to 550 additional acres of agricultural land, as well as help 3-4 young farm families acquire their first farms. Over the next ten years, an estimated 50 to 75 young and beginning farmers will be helped in acquiring their first farm properties with just the new resources authorized by SB 662. In addition, MALPF, by working together with the counties and MARBIDCO, will be able to preserve another 1,500 to 2,000 additional acres of farmland next year as a result of SB 662. Finally, the cumulative benefits of SB 662 over time are expected to be very substantial -- both in terms of helping to sustain profitable agriculture in Maryland as well as by helping to preserve important rural working lands for the future benefit of all citizens.

Working Waterfront Commission Created

2007 Farm Drought and Weather Event Recovery Assistance Loan Fund Announced

(September 13, 2007) - 2007 Farm Drought and Weather Event Recovery Assistance Loan Fund has been established by MARBIDCO to provide special assistance to producers and other rural businesses to help manage drought or weather-related lost production and lost income challenges. This program aims to help agricultural businesses maintain viability and recover from production and revenue losses due to the 2007 drought or other weather-related event. Operating loans are available to producers that have suffered significant crop losses, livestock and feed losses, or dairy losses. Applicants may apply for this program to pay all or part of production costs associated with an adverse weather-related event and pay essential family living expenses. Loans of up to $75,000 ($150,000 if land is used as collateral security) are available.

Producers (or rural business owners) must submit appropriate evidence of financial loss due to the 2007 drought or other weather-related event. Applicants should be participating in some type of RMA-supported crop insurance coverage if it is available for a particular commodity, however, final settlement of insurance claims need not be completed prior to making an application. The deadline for all applications to be received is: Saturday, December 15, 2007.

Gov. O'Malley's FY 2008 Budget Triples Funding to MARBIDCO

(January 30, 2007) – Governor Martin O'Malley renewed his commitment to support Maryland farmers by tripling funding for MARBIDCO and supporting cover crop programs.

“As a state, Maryland must do more to keep our farmers competitive. To that end, I have proposed tripling funding to MARBIDCO to support new farmers and help rural businesses,” said Governor O'Malley.

Read the rest of the release....

McHenry Appointed First Executive Director

(December 2006) Stephen R. McHenry, who has led the Rural Maryland Council as its executive director since 1998, has been appointed as the first Executive Director of the newly established Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO). McHenry will assume his new duties on December 1.

MARBIDCO is a publicly-chartered corporation with a primary mission is to provide the specialized financing and business assistance services that Maryland’s farm, forestry, and seafood businesses need to achieve profitability and sustainability now and into the future. A secondary mission of MARBIDCO is to assist the State and county governments with their agricultural and forest land preservation efforts. MARBIDCO is governed by a 17-member Board of Directors.

McHenry was recently selected to serve in this position after a MARBIDCO Board Search Committee conducted an extensive search for its first full-time director. “After conducting a nationwide search and interviewing several candidates, we were unanimous in our decision that Steve McHenry was the best qualified individual to fill this position”, said MARBIDCO Board Chairman Bob Frazee, who is also CEO of MidAtlantic Farm Credit. “He’s respected in government and rural industry circles, and was instrumental in getting the Corporation organized after the General Assembly passed legislation in 2004 authorizing the creation of MARBIDCO.” Read More . . .

MARBIDCO Vice Chair Named Dairy Woman
of the Year

(August 2006) - Janet Shank Stiles, vice chair of MARBIDCO, has been named by the international dairy industry as the Dairy Woman of the Year and will be honored at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, Oct. 3-7.