When Mark Thompson learned that his cows were polluting Loudoun County streams, he took steps to address the situation. To recognize the importance of those improvements to the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine paid a call recently to underscore how critical it is for farmers to follow the Corotoman Farm example.

In addition to the $1 billion Kaine has committed to the bay's restoration since entering office, he is well aware that wide buffers of unplanted land need to be established along the banks of farms that lie on the Potomac's tributaries.

Waste from cattle adds to the pollution that is sapping life from the bay and programs like the one Thompson put into place are critical. Kaine said the administration would meet its goal of setting aside 400,000 acres of open space and would commit the funds needed to upgrade water treatment plants in the watershed.

The governor acknowledged that the state has further to go to control pollution from more diffuse sources such as run-off from farms and development.

Kaine praised Thompson for the steps he's taken on his 554-acre farm including the protection of 80 acres by placing them under a conservation easement, and installing 9,735 feet of fencing since 2006 to keep livestock out of streams. The Governor presented Thompson with The 2008 Potomac River Basin Bay Friendly Clean Water Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia in recognition of the farms important initiatives.

The state invested $40,000 in the improvements at Corotoman Farm and Patricia McIlvaine, an agronomist with the Loudoun County Soil and Water Conservation District, estimated that since 1999 the farm and the State have committed more than $54,000 in fencing and water troughs.