For eight years, Lancaster County extension agent Leon Ressler and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have taken farmers out on a skipjack -- a type of sailboat used for oyster dredging -- to tour the Chesapeake. "The farmers learn about the life of the watermen," says Ressler. "They've observed that watermen are simply farmers of a different kind."

The skipper pulls up blue crab traps and talks about the crab industry. The group dredges for oysters and learns how oyster populations have changed over the bay's history. They pull up sediments that can result from farming activities and discuss their impacts. After their morning on the water, they visit sites such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's demonstration farm, the shad lifts at the Conawingo Dam (used to help shad migrate north in the Susquehanna River), or the University of Maryland's Water Research Center, where the farmers examine conservation and water quality research as it relates to tillage, fertilization, and other farming practices.

"The trip helps farmers gain a better understanding of how their activities affect the quality of the bay," Ressler says. "It also helps the environmental folks understand the constraints that farmers face. The dialogue has created some positive relationships between the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the agricultural community."