SOUTHERN MARYLAND REGIONAL STRATEGY ACTION PLAN FOR AGRICULTURE: TOBACCO CROP CONVERSION PROGRAM

Ten-Year Strategic Plan and Five-Year Action Strategies: 2002-2012

To promote diverse, market-driven agricultural enterprises*, which coupled with agricultural land preservation, will preserve Southern Maryland’s environmental resources and rural character while keeping the region’s farmland productive and the agricultural economy vibrant.
 

VISION
A diversified, profitable Southern Maryland agricultural industry thereby enhancing the quality of life for all citizens.

The Tobacco Crop Conversion Program consists of three main components—Tobacco Buyout, Infrastructure / Agricultural Development, and Agricultural Land Preservation as follows:

OVERARCHING GOALS

(1) The Tobacco Buyout component is a voluntary program which provides funds to a) support all eligible Maryland tobacco growers who choose to give up tobacco production forever while remaining in agricultural production and b) restrict the land from tobacco production for 10 years should the land transfer into new ownership.

(2) The Infrastructure / Agricultural Development Program will foster profitable natural resource based enterprises and regional economic development for Southern Maryland by assisting farmers and related businesses to diversify and develop and/or expand market-driven agricultural enterprises in the region through a) economic development and b) education.

(3) The Agricultural Land Preservation component seeks to provide a) an incentive for Southern Maryland tobacco farmers to place land in agricultural preservation, b) to enhance participation in existing Southern Maryland agricultural land preservation programs, and c) to assist in the acquisition of land or general support for farmers’ markets.

Southern Maryland: Transitioning away from a Tobacco Heritage

Agricultural trends in Southern Maryland (SMD) reveal a major social, cultural, and economic shift as the region transitions away from its 300-year-old tradition of tobacco production. Southern Maryland was home to the original settlement and has been the least changed in terms of its agricultural economy. Settled in 1632, the region quickly established its economy and its currency as one backed by tobacco. Until the later half of the 20th century, tobacco remained the economic keystone of the region and the primary economic engine.

In the latter portion of the 1900’s, the region became economically dependent on several military bases, while agriculture continued to be dominated by tobacco. In 1992, tobacco accounted for two-thirds of the total value of all agricultural commodities produced in the region and provided the mainstay for over 900 full/part time growers. In 2000, the state of Maryland instituted a voluntary tobacco buy-out program to transition farmers out of tobacco production forever, to be administered by the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland. The result of the Buyout has been an unprecedented and significant cultural and economic shift as has not been experienced since the advent of European settlers.

According to a 2001 study, the region’s heavy dependence on tobacco has left other agricultural sectors poorly developed. Little non-tobacco agricultural infrastructure is currently in place in Southern Maryland. Agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship are severely lacking. Economic indicators show that agriculture in SMD does worse than in other parts of the state as well as elsewhere in the nation. The lowest net returns per acre (price per unit) are in SMD, and very little of those returns circulate through the rest of the SMD economy.

With the exception of hay, all agricultural sectors are down in SMD and there is no critical mass in any one sector. The average age of the tobacco farmer is 62, and many taking the Buyout view it as a part of a retirement package. New scales of production may be limited, and willingness to invest in new enterprises appears also to be limited.

Farmers say the traditional agricultural forms of assistance have failed them. These factors make it difficult for younger farmers to see a bright future. All of this is coupled with statistics that show urban sprawl and land development are occurring faster on Southern Maryland’s remaining 244,000 acres of farmland than anywhere else in the state. In short, agriculture and the natural resource base in Southern Maryland are in need of major help.

To address these tremendous needs, the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, a non-profit, quasi-governmental body, convened the SMD Agricultural Development Commission to develop a program to stabilize the region’s agricultural economy as farmers convert from tobacco to alternative crop and other agricultural enterprises. The Commission represents a cross-section of the region’s community, from elected officials and local government, to representatives from higher education centers and traditional agricultural sectors, to private sector, business and finance representatives, and farmers. Together with the Council, the Commission has revised the Tobacco Transition / Southern Maryland Strategic Plan for Agriculture.

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