2009 Annual Report - American Farmland Trust

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A sunset viewed from rolling hills of orchards in the Hood River Valley, Oregon 4
Achieved the conservation promise of the 2008 Farm Bill. Our legislative advocacy helped secure nearly all the conservation funding promised by the bill—a significant victory for the conservation community. Allowed farmers to increase their adoption of conservation practices. Our BMP Challenge program demonstrated that farmers can reduce fertilizer use and adopt conservation practices while maintaining or improving profits. We expanded the program to California and Maryland, while increasing the acreage enrolled in Pennsylvania and other states. In Pennsylvania, farmers in the program generated nitrogen credits approved by the state’s water quality trading board—a potential new revenue source for participating farmers. Laid the groundwork for water credit trading systems that improve water quality and strengthen agriculture. We continued our efforts with partners to develop the country’s first regional water quality trading system in the 14-state Ohio River Basin—a model for how farmers and factories can work together to reduce pollution. In the Sauk River watershed of Minnesota, we worked with partners to finalize protocols for a trading market that will begin accepting trades in 2010. And in the Chesapeake Bay, we convened agriculture leaders to advance goals for the restoration effort, which will work region-wide to help farmers reduce pollution that impairs the bay. Helped farmers grow more sustainably. Our research staff and California office developed performance metrics for fruit, vegetable and nut growers, giving them a practical yardstick for measuring the environmental effects of their management decisions. And grants awarded through our integrated pest management (IPM) program helped growers around the country reduce and eliminate highly toxic pesticides. Continued to pioneer the development of innovative conservation markets. In the Pacific Northwest, American Farmland Trust launched a special effort to identify ways that ecosystem or conservation markets— which compensate farm and forest landowners for providing important environmental services, from wildlife habitat to flood control—can be used to protect agricultural lands. We educated farmers and agriculture groups about the opportunities of environmental markets; as a result of our work, the Washington Farm Bureau made creating ecosystem markets one of its top legislative priorities for the first time. 5
Page 1 and 2: A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 0 9
Page 3 and 4: Contents 1 From the Leadership 2 Ag
Page 5: The Susquehanna River flows past fe
Page 9: Successes In 2009, American Farmlan
Page 12 and 13: Farm and Ranch Land Protection T hi
Page 14 and 15: A Colorado ranch at sunrise
Page 16 and 17: Supporters Making Our Mission Possi
Page 18 and 19: Project Profile Ecosystem Markets:
Page 20 and 21: continued from page 15 Astrid Delaf
Page 22 and 23: Project Profile Wisconsin: A Model
Page 24 and 25: continued from page 19 Elmina B. Se
Page 26 and 27: Supporter Profile Two Farms, Four F
Page 28 and 29: “We discovered that people were i
Page 30 and 31: The mission of American Farmland Tr
Page 32: National Office 1200 18th Street, N

2009 Annual Report - American Farmland Trust

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