9-12-2024 4:40am

LINING UP TO

Jeff Barto Editor

DAVIDSONVILLE, MD – The Maryland Farm Bureau’s (MDFB) Board of Directors officially announced its opposition to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a proposed transmission line that could disrupt agricultural land in northern Maryland. MDFB is the state’s largest agricultural trade organization, comprising nearly 8,000 member families with a shared mission to strengthen and grow agriculture in Maryland.

The MPRP is a proposed 70-mile transmission line running through northern Baltimore County, Carroll County, and Frederick County. These lines have the potential to cut through agricultural property and the developers will need to acquire property rights for the project. After hearing from its grassroots membership, who voiced concerns about the project’s impact on their farms, MDFB’s leadership decided to take a stand.

“Our members have raised important concerns about the viability, and more importantly, the disruption this project causes Maryland farmers,” says MDFB President Jamie Raley. “Maryland Farm Bureau stands with our state’s farmers in opposition to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project for its substantial impact on our state’s finite farmland.”

An internal survey revealed that more than 25 Maryland Farm Bureau members could be directly affected by the MPRP, with an estimated 1,300 acres of farmland at risk. With Maryland already losing over 12,000 acres of farmland in recent years and lacking a clear succession plan for the future, the potential loss could have serious implications for local food supply and worsen food insecurity problems.

“Amid the rising mandates for clean energy and other legislation that competes with agriculture for land use, we believe it’s crucial to take a stand on this project in collaboration with our local county farm bureaus,” says MDFB Executive Director Parker Welch.

In 2022, the Maryland General Assembly passed The Climate Solutions Now Act (SB0528/HB0038), aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero emissions by 2045. To meet these goals, the Maryland Department of the Environment has outlined the need for new statewide transmission and distribution infrastructure.

As the MPRP project is needed to reach goals mandated by the Maryland General Assembly, MDFB has expressed concern over the potential negative impact on farmland. Members have been encouraged to voice their opposition to state lawmakers regarding the MPRP.

On the same day as this decision, MDFB signed a letter from Forever Maryland to Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. (PSEG), the entity behind the MPRP. The letter, co-signed by multiple agricultural organizations, opposed the construction of transmission lines on permanently preserved land.

In July, MDFB launched their Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project Resource Page as a way to provide members with the latest updates relating to the project. In late August, MDFB also released a blog post, “Maryland Lawmakers Put Farms at Risk with Data Center Legislation,” highlighting how many of the legislature’s short-sighted bills can often have downstream effects on farmers.