During the pandemic, food insecurity in MoCo and across the country increased 50%. Into the gap have stepped a number of nimble and innovative organizations to connect food insecure people with healthy food, much of sourced cost effectively by growing it nearby.

AfriThrive is one such organization and it has been our honor to match them with land in Poolesville through our Land Link program to create a farm to supply their food distribution hubs across MoCo.
The AfriThrive farm is a special operation as they focus on crops that are "culturally appropriate" - foods that their clients are familiar with preparing and eating that form the backbone of their culture. 

AfriThrive is joined by other Land Link matched farms with a hunger fighting mission - including Beauty Blooms Farm and other farms focused on culturally appropriate foods such as Dodo Farms and Passion to Seed Gardening. 

There are still a number of new and expanding farmers looking for land to buy/lease to grow specifically to increase food security - all farmer seeking land listings can be found here. 

Considering hosting a farmer on your land? Start here with our landowner info session recording. Or reach out - landlink@mocoalliance.org

On a gorgeous early summer day, Council President Gabe Albornoz met with a number of MoCo's wonderful women and BIPOC producers. Five of the producers that joined the gathering have successfully found land through our Land Link program. Abundant Dodo Farms was the backdrop for a conversation that fostered a real sense of uplift and common purpose.  
We are  so deeply grateful to everyone for their time and energy as we collaborate to build a robust and equitable local food system. 
Thanks to Wib Middleton of Plenty Magazine for photos. Please peruse the videos below. 

In Attendance: 
Tope Fajingbesi  and Niyi Balogun- Dodo Farms, Brookville
Tanya Spandhla, Passion to Seed Farm and MCA board member, Brookville
Nia Nyamweya - Beauty Blooms Farm, Barnesville
Indu Balasubramaniam, Vijay and Suriya Kandaswamy  - Amaranth Acres, Dickerson 
Truphena Choti - Afrithrive Farm, Poolesville
Nazirahk Amen - Purple Mountain Organics
Amanda Cather - Plow & Stars Farm, Poolesville - American Farmland Trust
Lee Langstaff - Shepherd's Hey Farm, Comus - MCA board president
Jane Thery - Maryland Horse Council Stewardship Committee, boards at Wyndham Oaks
Marci Guramatunhu - Chirandu Farm, Barnesville
Anne Davies - Stone Field Farm, Boyds, MCA board
Laura Van Etten - Monocacy Mills Farm, Dickerson 
Mohammed Iqbal Khan - Neelamga, Potomac 
Jane Perini and Wib Middleton - PLENTY Magazine, Darnestown
Caroline Taylor - Poolesville, MCA

​Here's What We Discussed:
- appreciation for the Agricultural Reserve (of course)
- good news of growing diversity of producers and products notably culturally relevant foods
-the many layered contributions of agriculture, notably by BIPOC and women producers with emphasis on meeting food insecurity 
- farming, to exist and expand here, must be profitable 
- Ag Census data (handout) that underscores diversity within ag sector
-Equestrian: Over 12,000 horses, 111 licensed stables including therapeutic riding, kid’s lessons, trails and horse operations on county land like Meadowbrook, Wheaton Stables and Potomac Stables. Great environmental stewards with grasslands, woodlots and wildlife habitat. Outdoor recreation and economic drivers with employment and many related services from hay to farriers to fence builders. 

Challenges and potential solutions:

-Access to affordable land and resources such as fencing/wells/power/equipment 
-labor shortages as well as absence of critical farm labor housing proximate to farms
-equitable access to capital cited as ongoing challenge
-establish in-county processing centers for protein/produce - this has become big issue
-provide clear resources to navigate various requirements for farm start ups and better facilitate approval for farm labor housing units 
-inclusion: gaining a place at the table where decision making occurs
-educating consumers about local farms/products/challenges/opportunities (I.e. support for local media such as PLENTY magazine)
-Community land trusts/ incubators and building equity and opportunities for BIPOC/women producers to own land and long-term farm leases for small-scale producers 
-For labor: facilitate connection with immigrants and under employed with ag backgrounds/ interests 

 Thanks to the farmers and Councilmember Albornoz for their time. We here at MCA are committed to dig in on these important issues. 

Montgomery County has committed to reducing the waste residents send to the landfill. Decreased waste will also allow the Waste to Energy incinerator in Dickerson to close.  A study by the county in 2018 showed that 21% of solid waste going to the landfill from County residents is food scraps. Channeling this food waste to compost will greatly reduce the need for incineration or more and more landfill space. Not everyone has the space to compost at their home or business. Enter startup businesses like Compost Crew who gather food scraps and turn it into soil through large scale composting. Compost Crew has come to our Land Link program in search of local land where they can compost gathered food scraps. 

To learn more about this opportunity (or any of the other land link listings)  email landlink@mocoalliance.org

That's why we were so pleased to have two recent profiles of the program that showcase these farms.
First two articles in Bethesda Beat highlighting the nuts and bolts of the program and profiling some of the farmers and land owners who have matched as a result of the program. 

Next, a video from Montgomery County Cable focusing on Beauty Blooms Farm - the partnership between landowner Susan and Farmer Nia that sent 900 lbs of food to Manna Food Center this season. 

More to Discover:

• Dodo Farms Profile on Maryland Farm and Harvest
• Is a CSA For Me?
• Tips for a successful match: Farmer and Landowner
• Landowner Information Session Recording

Land Link Montgomery has been helping farmers find farmland since 2011. While the Ag Reserve is a successful 40 year experiment in farmland protection, high land prices make buying farmland in the county out of reach for many aspiring farmers. Land Link matches aspiring farmers with local landowners offering long term leases to give new farmers the stability to start new farm ventures.  With 500 acres matched so far, this program has allowed a number of new farmers get their start. 

However, many more farmers are looking for land. Currently on the site, land seekers outnumber landowners 2:1. These aspiring farmers come from all walks of life, represent many backgrounds and ethnicities, some are veterans, doctors, refugees, teachers and all have different plans for new farms. None of them can get started without land.  

The pandemic has put a fine point on the need for a stronger local food system, empty shelves last spring and continued long lines at food banks show that we need to grow more of our own food and distribute it equitably as neighbors continue to struggle with food insecurity. 

Landowners hold the key to growing more local farms that can in turn grow more local food. While large acreage is great, many land seekers are looking for a lease on just 1-5 acres. Some are seeking less than 1 acre. 

If you have land to lease and are interested in learning more, please join us for a virtual information session on March 24 at 7:30pm. 
​Full Press Release here. 

A farmer and landowner matched through the program will join us to share their experience in the program and any questions about leases, irrigation, etc will be answered. Though we focus on Montgomery County, residents from surrounding counties are most welcome. 
​
Please RSVP below and the zoom link will be emailed to you.

​If you are interested in learning more about the program before the session: 
you can browse listings from the program here.  
Program FAQs here.  
Stories of matches here
See this Maryland Farm and Harvest video on Dodo Farms, matched with land through our Land Link program.

It may not look like the future - it may look like a field of radishes, clover and annual rye. It is that - but also so much more. This sea of green in Dickerson is a part of a 90 acre project to sequester carbon and increase crop yields - namely regenerative agriculture. 

This field is a partnership between our friends at Sugarloaf Citizens Association who have offered up part of their historic Linden Farm property and seasoned sustainable farmer Greg Glenn of Rocklands Farm. Greg has long been instituting regenerative techniques on his own farm and winery but when SCA offered this acreage up through our Land Link program for a regenerative experiment, he took on the challenge. 

While the average acreage sought on the Land Link program is around 5 acres. This 90 acre project represents an investment in the new-old way of growing food and improving soil health at the same time.  Maryland is promoting regenerative agriculture with the newly launched Million Acre Challenge, run by Montgomery County's own Amanda Cather of Plow and Stars Farm. 

Much more on the benefits of Regenerative Ag can be found here and the intersection of Black History and Regenerative Ag is a story that needs telling. The basic idea is that intensive cover crops serve as forage for livestock that add their manure to the soil, building up the microorganisms and porosity (or ability to filter water) of the soil. This makes for land that is teeming with rich nutrients and soil life but also allows more water to pass through - a benefit for erosion control and water quality. With the Linden Farm project, neighboring farmers have already commented that they are seeing reduced runoff as a result of the cover crop. 

As soil is built, carbon is locked away. These farm practices are a carbon sequestration strategy and - as Maryland and points north will soon take on more of the food producing burden as southern areas become too hot, good soil will be necessary to making that shift. 

Stay tuned as this project takes root!

Thrilled to announce that we have connected another farmer to land through our Land Link program! A small paddock in Barnesville will now grow table crops, mostly to benefit Manna Food. This past weekend was perfect weather to lay down cardboard, locally produced leafgrow compost and some manure from the landowner to start forming beds for planting. This classic "Lasagna" method kills the grass underneath the cardboard to become a carbon source and the manure and compost provide a seedbed for seeds so they can be started right away. This is a quick way to start new beds. 
A new farmer matched with land is always thrilled to get started but achieving a Land Link match is a moment for landowners too. This landowner says, "Thank you for making dreams possible!"

We are proud to report that Land Link has made another match! 2 acres in Poolesville is now being farmed by the Cozzi Family Farm! Will and Alicia needed more space for their growing poultry business. On a meeting with another potential landowner match, they met Jared who started Wildflower Farm in Dickerson after a successful Land Link match last year. Now both farms are among the vendors at the Cozzi Family Farm Co-Op market each weekend in Poolesville (10-2 Sat +Sun at Basset's). Despite the Ag Reserve's local food production, it is in fact a food desert as the last grocery store closed some years ago. Like in urban areas, farmers markets can bridge the gap when full service groceries are not available.  

We celebrate every Land Link match and the landowners who join the program to lease their land, but another issue MCA is working on now could have real effects on the amount of acreage that is available to get these new and expanding farmers growing.

ZTA 20-01 is proposing 1800 acres of industrial solar be allowed in the Ag Reserve with no protections for prime soils/forests/water quality and no stipulations that the energy stays local.

Among many deleterious impacts of this ZTA, one is a chilling effect on leasing to these new farmers. In comparing the income generated by industrial scale solar to lease income from a table crop producer, there is no contest. When large scale solar is allowed in the Ag Reserve, old farmers are priced off the land and new farmers are completely shut out in the only part of the County set aside for farming.  Please take two minutes to take action.

This becomes an equity issue. As reported in the Washington Post profile of Dodo Farms, matched with an acre through Land Link in 2018, many of the farmers seeking land through Land Link represent demographics that are currently not well represented in local farming. Currently, farmers on the Land Link site looking for land include a family of Syrian refugees, immigrants from a number of different countries and a little more than half of land seekers are women and People of Color. As Woody Woodroof of Red Wiggler Farm said in our Growing Legacy film, an acre of farmland is already out of reach for many in Montgomery County, despite one-third of the county being set aside for this purpose. This was the impetus for starting our Land Link program that has led to the 500+ acres of land we have matched so far. Non-Ag uses being permitted in the Ag Reserve make these matches harder to come by.

Land Link has more in common with another MCA program, Re-Leaf the Reserve, than we previously realized. Much like the acres of tree plantings we have done so far, we aren't planting a certain number of trees, we are planting a forest. Humans are learning much more about how the trees of the forest are connected by an intricate web of mycelium, a network of fungal strands. The mycelium form links between each tree in the forest and pass resources between them as you can see in this stunning video.  

​To truly have an impact on the wider food system, it is these lateral connections that need to form just like the Co-Op market, but first we need to grow the next generation of farmers. Industrial solar is not an agricultural use and would take land out of production now and in the future. Again - please take two minutes to take action here. 

Good news from the Reserve! This flock has found pasture through MCA’s Land Link program! (Photo - flock’s arrival last month)
Cheers to the land owners who offer acreage so that agriculture can thrive... right here in Montgomery County! Cheers to the farmers whose labor sustains us!
What’s Land Link you ask? Our program to connect new and expanding farmers with local landowners offering long term leases. ​ http://www.mocolandlink.org

Land Link Montgomery is MCA's program to connect aspiring and expanding farmers with landowners offering long term leases. The program has matched over 400 acres in the County and continues to accept both landowners and farmers. Visit the Land Link site to learn more.
​We usually get to see the match between farmer and landowner start over email but it is really gratifying to see the result of a match in crops planted and fresh produce at markets. There have been two recent profiles of local Land Link success stories - both now a few seasons in and having achieved the Certified Naturally Grown designation. 

We received a joyful piece of correspondence the other day from Land Link farmer Olaniyi of Dodo Farms. We matched him with an acre some time back and he got in touch with an update and a documentary from the County of the thriving farm on his one acre.  ​

I​ will like to thank you so much for matching us with Dorothy.
I am delighted to tell you that not only have we had the most amazing experience with Dorothy and her family, the county just released a documentary about our farm. We mentioned you in the documentary and your site was featured too.
You changed our lives, you made something that seemed unachievable, easy.
Thank you so much.

Another profile - this time in print- of another Land Link success story was in the harvest issue of PLENTY magazine - the fledgling publication devoted solely to covering the Upcounty and Ag Reserve. Read the article about farmer Tanya here.  Tanya's Passion to Seed Farm is growing both native staples and crops, like Kiwano (Horned Melon) from her native Zimbabwe. 

​June 25 7pm 
Poolesville - Museum/Historic Bank Building
19933 Fisher Avenue, Poolesville, MD 20837​
Funding Your Farm Business
Please join us for a free farmer to farmer discussion about funding for projects, conservation, and equipment. 

-How do I fund fencing? 
-Can I get a low/no -interest loan for farmland?
​
We’ll talk about the different programs and different options.
Presenters: Keith Ohlinger, owner/operator Heritage Hill Farm and 
Charlotte Brewster, Howard and Montgomery County NRCS District Conservationist

From Our Friends at American Farmland Trust:

​The American Farmland Trust has partnered with Montgomery County and Montgomery Countryside Alliance to their Women For The Land program this September 2018. The program is a Conservation Learning Circle for women landowners.  The Conservation Learning Circle is a quick way to network with other landowners and learn how to access free conservation programs offered by state and local agencies. 

 What’s old is new again and the economics are promising!
Hemp can now be cultivated under certain conditions in Maryland thanks to this year’s legislation now signed into law by Governor Hogan. Big thanks to Delegate David Fraser Hidalgo and his team for their tireless work in seeing this through.
 
Why hemp production in Maryland?

• Hemp is good for the environment: Hemp requires little to no fertilizers or pesticides, improves soil health, reduces farm runoff that can pollute our waterways, and supports biodiversity.
• Hemp is good for farmers: Hemp is a fast-growing crop that performs well in our climate and can open up new markets for farmers. It also helps build nutrients in the soil so farmers need fewer fertilizers or other costly additives.
• Hemp is good for Maryland: Hemp production can bring new jobs to the state to grow and process the crop and manufacture it into goods, including textiles, construction materials, food, health and beauty products.

 
Farmers and businesses have been quickly getting up to speed on how best to proceed in Maryland. The question of start up costs has rightly been raised especially with regard to equipment. MC producer Joe Orlow offers, “The specialized machinery can be perhaps be obtained and shared by forming a co-operative of hemp farmers. The labor intensive nature does not have to be a downside. As example, Growing Warriors  under Mike Lewis has found employment for veterans.” 

Pending Federal Legislation is co-sponsored by 1/3rd of the Senate and a recent resolution touting its potential benefits just passed this month.

More - economic and environmental benefits:
 
Forbes : A win for Industry and environment
 
The Guardian: The Plant that Could Boost America's Economy

​Our Previous Post on Hemp

There was a productive stakeholder meeting in May 2018 at the MC Farm Bureau. To learn more drop us a line info@mocoalliance.org

The Revolving Barn Door She listed her few acres of land, got a farmer who wanted to start small and build his skills- he did and moved to bigger acreage. Now she's taking on a new farmer to start again. That's two new farms grown on two acres. 

The Institutional Farmer Asbury Methodist Village is committed to vital living for its senior residents - going so far as to seek a resident farmer for their new campus farm. Farmer Gigi is planning her first season of crops and engaging the residents in growing food close to home. 

The Taste of Home Land Link was able to match Farmer Tanya with acreage to grow crops from her native Zimbabwe - including Kiwano, or horned Melon. 

Having finished a schedule thick with wonderful events in September and October including Farm to Fork, Ride for the Reserve, and the 2017 Royce Hanson Award​, we thought we might have a little down time for some administrivia. No such thing! 

Land Use Planning – Transportation: A forward thinking resolution
 
We added our voice and effort in support of a sound County Council Resolution ensuring that upcounty land use planning maintains balance with current and approved transportation infrastructure. First rule: When in a hole, stop digging.  Happy to report that the resolution passed 7-2. ​Hats off to the TAME Coalition and County Councilmembers for getting this done.

by Kristina Bostick