
By Matt SabasPosted July 10, 2025
Vanessa Sandin is a role model for new farmers aiming to minimize their impact on the Chesapeake Bay.
Through her work at Pohick Farm, a 400-acre cattle operation in Delaplane, Virginia, Ms. Sandin has dedicated herself to understanding how her farm is connected to the Goose Creek-Mitchells Branch Watershed, which flows into the Potomac River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.
Ms. Sandin has collaborated closely with her tenant farmer, Camden Franklin, and Melissa Allen, District Manager of John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District (JMSWCD), to implement mitigation practices across her property.
Participating in the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share (VACS) Program has allowed Pohick to implement an array of practices including livestock stream exclusion, rotational grazing and forested riparian buffers. Ms. Sandin’s innovative use of best management practices won her a Grand Basin Clean Water Farm Award in 2024.
“One of the reasons we do these practices is so that you’re getting the benefit of rotational grazing and an alternative watering system,” said Ms. Allen. “We’re getting the exclusion of the cattle in those riparian areas, and that allows the banks to heal, and ultimately, we’re improving water quality.”
“That’s one of the biggest things I’ve seen is the stream banks, how they were so eroded with cattle going down into the streams. It was a big mud hole,” said Mr. Franklin. “All these bacteria and pathogens are being implemented into it through the manure, but by fencing off the streams, we’re taking that out of it. We’re keeping the cattle out of the water and the mud, and that’s drastically reducing foot rot and other diseases that we’ve dealt with in the past.”
Ms. Sandin has implemented nearly 40 acres of riparian buffers across her property.
Riparian buffers, vegetated areas adjacent to streams, rivers and other water bodies, offer significant environmental benefits by serving as a natural filtration system. Buffers enhance water quality by trapping sediment, nutrients and pollutants from agricultural runoff before they enter waterways. Vegetation stabilizes stream banks, reducing harmful erosion and sedimentation.
Buffers can also deliver long-term cost savings and financial returns. By mitigating flood damage and erosion, they reduce the need for costly infrastructure repairs and emergency responses.
VACS provides cost-share reimbursement for over 60 practices, including buffers. In FY 2026, the reimbursement rate is up to 95% percent, plus $500/acre for hardwood and $150/acre for conifer buffers; and a 100% rate for a maximum of $80/acre for grass filter strips.
For assistance in installing riparian buffers and other conservation practices, contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds.
John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District contributed to this post.
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Soil and Water Conservation