News

Conservation and Equity: Soto-Gomez to Detail NRCS Efforts at Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference

Conservation and Equity: Soto-Gomez to Detail NRCS Efforts at Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference

By Codi Coulter Bianca Soto-Gomez will appear at this year’s Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference on a panel titled “Using Legal Education to Increase Equitable Participation in NRCS Conservation Programs.” Other panelists include Sarah Hirsh, Ph.D., an extension agent with University of Maryland Extension, and Sarah Everhart, the Agriculture Law EducationInitiative’s senior research associate and legal specialist. For more information about the Conference and to register, visit go.umd.edu/umlawconfreg21. Soto-Gomez is a District Conservationist in the […]

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Delegate Charkoudian to Highlight Maryland Food Resiliency Programs at Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference

Delegate Charkoudian to Highlight Maryland Food Resiliency Programs at Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference

By Codi Coulter At this year’s Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference, Delegate Lorig Charkoudian will be part of the panel “Strengthening Local Food Systems Through Law and Policy: the Role of Food Policy Councils and the Certified Local Farm Enterprise Program” along with Karen Fedor, Certified Local Farm Program director, and Justin Hayes, Assistant Attorney General, both with the Maryland Department of Agriculture. The panelists will discuss the role of recently developed programs in addressing […]

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A Dairy Farmer’s Unlikely Success during the Pandemic

A Dairy Farmer’s Unlikely Success during the Pandemic

By: Devin Doolan The COVID-19 pandemic has blown Maryland’s dairy industry into uncharted waters, but Brooks Long, a seventh generation dairy farmer in Williamsport, MD, has found success during a time when many local operations are dwindling. He and his wife, Katie, bought their dairy operation in 2009, but it was their decision to begin producing and selling their own milk in 2019 that put them in a position to succeed during the pandemic.  Their […]

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Why Milk Producers had to Dump Milk because of COVID-19

Why Milk Producers had to Dump Milk because of COVID-19

Katie Dotter-Pyle, Co-Owner and Farmer at Cow Comfort Inn Dairy and Creamery, has put together this video explaining why dairy farmers were forced to dump some of the milk they produced as a result of COVID-19 disruptions. Her explanation was so thorough that she is now being interviewed by various news outlets, including Bloomberg News, to share her knowledge of the pandemic’s impact on milk production. To the benefit of us all, Katie will be […]

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Unlikely Opponents in the Chesapeake Bay Clean-up: County Governments vs. the Conowingo Dam

Unlikely Opponents in the Chesapeake Bay Clean-up: County Governments vs. the Conowingo Dam

By: Sarah Everhart   According to Chip MacLeod, Esq. the Chesapeake Bay clean-up effort has focused on non-point sources such as agriculture, septic tanks, and stormwater and ignored the impacts of the mighty Susquehanna River as the single largest source of pollution to Chesapeake Bay and the Conowingo Dam factor.  The Conowingo Dam, owned and operated by Exelon Generation, has been Maryland’s largest source of hydroelectric energy for more than 90 years. The Dam also […]

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