LWV Forum participants (l to r) Robin Finnacom, Phil Shire and Jamie Raley
Lexington Park, MD — The future of farming in Southern Maryland became the main topic at a forum on Community Development sponsored by the League of Women Voters of St. Mary’s County. The forum was held Sept. 16 at the Lexington Park Library.
Forum participants were Acting Director of Economic Development Robin Finnacom, Director of Land Use and Growth Management Phil Shire and the President of the St. Mary’s County Farm Bureau Jamie Raley.
Shire explained to the attendees the effects of the state mandated “Septic Bill” that puts the county into four tiers with the bulk of the rural area limited to only seven lots per farm. He noted the bill restricts the use of septic systems, but does not ban them as had been feared by those opposed to it. But he observed, “it lowers development potential, lowers value” for more than a thousand pieces of property in the county.
Raley called preserving property values a “fundamental Constitutional right.” He observed that for years farm owners had used their property’s development potential to borrow money for their day-to-day operations and also to have something to give their kids should they choose not to continue in farming.”
He said that instead of the land’s “highest and best use” in determining value, he is concerned that the valuation will now be its eminent domain value.
Raley called upon the last Census of Agriculture to reveal that in St. Mary’s County 67,000 acres are in farmland, representing 630 farms. “They provide the beauty we see around here – the tradition, the heritage,” he said.
Raley said of the 630 farms, 97 percent have annual sales of less than $250,000. In St. Mary’s the average net income of those farms is a negative $2,000. It’s worse in Charles: a negative &7,000. Calvert comes in at a whopping average income of $400 a year. He said that Calvert’s positive amount wouldn’t provide gas for his operation for a month.
Raley noted that tobacco could be in the area’s future again, because the state buyout was of the farmer and not the farm, so someone else could come along and restore tobacco as a crop. He said one of his farms is used by a farmer who did not take the buyout and he is making a good living at it.
“The outlook for agriculture is still viable for St. Mary’s, Southern Maryland and the state of Maryland,” Raley concluded but the current state initiatives regarding land use put a cloud over that.
Finnacom said the outlook for defense spending makes it imperative that the county be proactive in diversifying the economy. “We have to be more aggressive about the search for the new economy,” Finnacom said.
League President Pat Dunlap acted as master of ceremonies for the event. She announced the league would have two upcoming candidates’ forums at the library: October 16th for county commissioner and school board candidates; and October 28th for candidates for delegate and senate. Both will be at 6 p.m.