Wash Post Article on Manure & Water Quality

[goose70]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/28/AR2010022803978.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

[Scott McGuire]

Thanks for sharing. Good article.

[Jonny Oyster Seed]

A week ago I attended the Governor's Agriculture Forum in Annapolis (as a representative of the aquaculture industry). The objective of the meeting was to identify impediments to agriculture and help lay-out short and long term plans/guidance for government policy.

There were a couple hundred farmers present from small, medium, and large operations throughout Maryland... And the number one concern, independent of farm size or location, was how new federal regulations for the Chesapeake could make Maryland farmers noncompetitive in the marketplace (because of the additional financial burden of meeting increased standards).

It's certainly a valid concern: IMO, the last thing we need is more farms being converted in housing developments. But it's also true that in order to save the Bay, everyone in the watershed will need to contribute in some fashion - maintaining the status quo will not get us anywhere. With regards to agricultural pollution, the trick will be finding ways to assist farmers in meeting new standards without putting them out of business.

[LY2000]

All the farmers have to do is raise their prices a little to do the right thing. 15 Cents more for KFC isn't going to hurt anyone.

[goose70]

MD farmers should not have to pick up the tab of less farmland and more buffer to save the Bay. Otherwise, expect to see a lot more land up for sale to developers.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this. I can understand why raising prices could put them at a competitive disadvantage if farmers in other regions aren't faced with similar restrictions, but I don't understand why preventing serious ecological and economic harm to a public resource shouldn't be priced into their operations. The key, from my limited understanding of the issue, is for the EPA to apply regulations evenly across the industry, which makes sense since the harm from manure and other agricultural practices seems to occur in many places outside of the Chesapeake region.

[BILL H]

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this. I can understand why raising prices could put them at a competitive disadvantage if farmers in other regions aren't faced with similar restrictions, but I don't understand why preventing serious ecological and economic harm to a public resource shouldn't be priced into their operations. The key, from my limited understanding of the issue, is for the EPA to apply regulations evenly across the industry, which makes sense since the harm from manure and other agricultural practices seems to occur in many places outside of the Chesapeake region.

That is a good point. We, as the consumers of their products, should pay the true cost of the food that is produced. And that true cost includes mitigation of the environmental damage caused by the farming and other practices that go into the food production.

[BILL H]

Jim,
I agree that it is a competitive business. But we cannot continue to sacrifice our environment on the altar of un-regulated competition. Competition does not grant any farmer the right to "make his nut" at the expense of the water quality of a public resource. I don't think the issue is planting more buffer. It is more like keeping excess fertilizer and chicken waste out of our water (ground and surface). Other businesses have to follow effluent limitations. Agriculture has guidelines, management plans, and best practices which translate into bupkis (pardon my Yiddish).

[CSLUG]

I have lived in a rural part of Harford county for 30+ years. We have a fair number of dairy farms and do to the great amounts of water needed by dairy cows they are always located on streams. There is a dairy farm not 100 yards down my street, the stream there feeds deer creek and it never runs clear, there is always cows standing in the water doing their thing. I don't like it and multiplied out it's significant, but allowed.

But what really gets me in a twist is the manure spreading. I'm close to rocks state park which by no means is flat land and twice a year right before heavy rain all the local field get a generous slathering of manure which promptly runs off to the bay. It has happened too many years to be coincidence and is clearly an effective way of disposing of liquid manure other then dumping it directly into the local streams.