Maryland Farm Bureau Shares Local Dairy Farmers’ Sustainability Story at State Fair

To sweeten the wait for ice cream and milkshakes at the state fair Dairy Bar, Maryland Farm Bureau shared some food for thought in the form of large signs touting the productivity of the state’s dairy industry and highlighting how farms protect water quality in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

More than 10,000 fairgoers visited the Dairy Bar, operated by the Maryland Farm Bureau Young Farmers, throughout the 13 days of the Maryland State Fair in August and September 2022. Along with viewing the dairy and sustainability ag facts, Dairy Bar customers could scan a QR code on one of the signs, which took them to the Dairy Bar website featuring a video about the various sustainability practices used at Cow Comfort Inn Dairy, located in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Strategic Action Fund

Maryland Farm Bureau’s Dairy Bar signage was funded by a grant from the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Strategic Action Fund. Through the fund, state Farm Bureaus with fewer than 25,000 members were eligible to apply for funding of up to $5,000 for public policy-related projects. Several state Farm Bureaus – Idaho, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee – each contributed $1,000 to the Strategic Action Fund for the 2022 round of projects.