Bay in the Balance explores agriculture as a solution to restore Chesapeake Bay

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As director of agricultural operations for Country View Family Farms (CVFF) in Middletown, William Fink navigates a complex set of daily challenges, including weather variability, tight margins, labor shortages and countless other moving parts.

Among the most pressing, however, is ensuring that the farms’ livestock practices, which he oversees, are both sustainable and environmentally sound. That responsibility is especially critical when it comes to protecting the health of local watersheds that ultimately flow into Chesapeake Bay.

“For me, it comes down to responsibility,” Fink said. “We depend on the land every day. We make our living from it, and most farmers want to leave the farm better than they found it. Agriculture and environmental stewardship are not opposing goals — they go hand in hand.”

That philosophy informs his work on the Agricultural Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Program and motivated his participation in Bay in the Balance 2026, where more than 250 farmers, policymakers, government officials, scientists, industry leaders and environmental advocates gathered this spring in Gettysburg.

Hosted by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the conference brought together stakeholders from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed to explore solutions that support both productive agriculture and the water quality goals of the nation’s largest estuary.

This latest conference builds on past forums hosted by the college, including the Pennsylvania in the Balance conferences, according to Matt Royer, director of Penn State’s Agriculture and Environment Center, who organized the event with Mary Seaton, assistant director of college relations.

“The Chesapeake Bay watershed is a treasured natural resource and a working ecosystem that provides for fisheries, farms, tourism and countless livelihoods,” Royer said. “Protecting its waters means safeguarding habitats while also supporting the people and industries that rely on them every day. Bay in the Balance fostered candid conversation, built relationships and strengthened trust. Attendees left inspired and dedicated to carrying its impact forward.”

Efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay date back more than 50 years, to the Clean Water Act, which designated it the first U.S. estuary targeted for protection. Work focuses on preventing excess nutrients from fueling algal blooms that deplete oxygen and excess sediment from smothering benthic habitat, both of which contribute to “dead zones” where aquatic life cannot survive.

Conference participants examined advances in conservation technology and funding strategies, including remote sensing and artificial intelligence for conservation verification, precision agriculture tools, drone applications, nutrient management innovations, and secure data-sharing systems that credit farmers for conservation performance.

During a “State of the States” panel, representatives from Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia shared updates on their progress and ongoing challenges.

In Pennsylvania, where roughly 30,000 farms covering 3.1 million acres operate within the bay watershed, the agricultural sector has reduced nitrogen pollution by more than 5 million pounds since 2019, which is more than five times the amount reduced in the previous decade. The commonwealth also achieved reductions of 106,000 pounds of phosphorus and 108 million pounds of sediment.

This was welcome news to Matt Ehrhart, director of the Robin L. Vannote Watershed Restoration Program at Stroud Water Research Center, who has spent much of his career focused on local stream and watershed restoration.

For him, one of the most significant takeaways from the conference was its ability to bring together stakeholders from across a 64,000-square-mile watershed while still fostering productive, solution-oriented discussions.

“Looking back 15 to 20 years, there’s a much better understanding of the work that needs to be done and a much greater commitment to conservation and water quality,” Ehrhart said. “There’s more robust two-way dialogue between the production side and the conservation side.”

While he noted clear signs of progress, Ehrhart pointed to ongoing challenges raised by panelists and participants, including limited funding, data and monitoring systems knowledge gaps, and a shortage of qualified technical staff to support conservation implementation.

Engaging farmers who have not yet adopted conservation practices remains another hurdle, he noted, and will require improved communication strategies, expanded business management support, and greater reliance on peer-to-peer learning among producers.

“Many producers face time constraints and financial pressures that can make it difficult to evaluate or implement changes, even when the long-term benefits are clear,” Ehrhart said. “The challenge is to encourage them to invest in doing things differently. I believe the conference brought together the right people to drive those discussions.”

Fink said the farming families who partner with CVFF, an affiliate of Clemens Food Group, a family-owned pork production and processing company, are committed to tackling those challenges head-on.

The group’s farms work with nutrient management planners, conservation districts and agronomists to apply nutrients based on soil tests and crop needs, including using manure at agronomic rates and practices that keep soil and nutrients in place. Many of these efforts are supported through partnerships with organizations such as Penn State Extension.

“One thing I wish more people understood is that farmers care deeply about the land and water they farm on,” Fink said. “These are the same streams our families live next to. If we continue working together — farmers, conservation groups, scientists and policymakers — we can protect the Chesapeake Bay while keeping farms strong.”

Royer said the conference underscored that solutions must work at the farm level, with economic realities front and center. He emphasized that trust, coordination and a shared sense of purpose among partners are critical to making meaningful progress.

He shared ideas generated at the conference, including expanding farmer-led mentoring networks, compensating farmers for their time and expertise, ensuring conservation planning reflects real-world decision-making, broadening nutrient management voucher programs, and increasing access to precision technologies for smaller operations. A post-conference report with recommendations is under development.

Marel King, the Pennsylvania director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, expressed her appreciation to those who organized the conference and to those who attended.

“There is a lot of great agricultural conservation work to celebrate across the watershed, and a great foundation of partnership and collaboration we can build on to continue accelerating progress,” King said. “There was an enormous amount of excitement and enthusiasm at the conference, and existing networks were grown and strengthened.”