The Maryland Department of Agriculture received a $42,500 USDA grant on Friday (July 14) to conduct a feasibility study for an animal quarantine facility in proximity to Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). Such a facility would improve the business climate for international shipments of livestock to and from the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said, “With the nearest quarantine facilities for the export of horses and livestock in New York and Florida, international trade of these animals is inconvenient and represents lost economic opportunity for Maryland farmers and agricultural businesses. This grant will allow us to see if opening a quarantine facility convenient to BWI is practical and advantageous for those doing business in the Mid-Atlantic Region