Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources has opened its first lease under a new pilot program designed to bring regenerative farming practices to state-owned agricultural land, starting with a 111-acre property in Poolesville.
The lease, on DNR’s Pierpoint property in the River Road area of Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery County, is the first offered under the agency’s new Regenerative Farming Practices and Traditions Program. Farmers can apply for the full acreage or a portion of it; the selected applicant would operate under a 10-year lease with a potential renewal option. Applications were due Sept. 22, and DNR says it’s now working to identify additional state-owned properties suitable for similar long-term leases statewide. DNR is one of Maryland’s largest agricultural landowners, leasing roughly 10,000 acres of state property to farmers.
The program traces back to the Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act, a bill sponsored by Gov. Wes Moore and passed by the 2025 General Assembly, which Moore signed into law in May 2025. Beyond giving DNR authority to offer longer leases to farmers using regenerative techniques, the Act also created the Maryland Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming program, administered by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and formally updated the state’s Healthy Soil Program to define “regenerative practices and traditions” — a definition that specifically draws on African, Indigenous, and traditional land stewardship approaches, not solely modern climate-smart farming methods. The law took effect July 1, 2025, and is set to run for five years.
Regenerative agriculture broadly refers to farming methods focused on biodiverse ecosystems and healthy soils — practices like diversifying crops and livestock and integrating trees, meant to improve water infiltration and retention, sequester carbon, increase biodiversity, and cut fertilizer and herbicide costs for farmers.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which lobbied in support of the Legacy Act, praised the new leasing program. “DNR’s new farming program is a model for regenerative agriculture implementation, combining land access opportunities for farmers while maximizing community and conservation benefits,” said Rob Schnabel, CBF’s Maryland watershed restoration scientist. “Maryland has long been a leader in regenerative agriculture, which is a critical tool in our fight against climate change, flooding, and droughts… It should serve as a national model for public owned farmland.”
The program arrives as broader Bay restoration efforts continue to fall short of their own timelines. Across the watershed, states have reduced nitrogen loads by 15.3%, phosphorus loads by 21.8%, and sediment loads by 7.6% compared with 2009 levels, according to Chesapeake Progress tracking — but the region’s 2025 Watershed Implementation Plan goals will not be met on schedule, underscoring that new initiatives like this one are part of an ongoing, still-incomplete effort rather than a finished solution.
Farmers and community members interested in learning more about regenerative techniques can also attend the third annual Regenerative Farm Tour, hosted by CBF and Mobilize Frederick on Oct. 15 in Woodsboro, Maryland.
