By Amy Duke
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.
Source : psu.edu