11/05/02
The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s attorney0s are currently wordsmithing a warning letter which will be sent to about 1,000 farmers in the state who have not yet complied with the state’s mandatory nutrient management law.
That letter, when it’s mailed in the next several weeks, will give recipients a deadline to either submit a nutrient management plan to the state or follow an official procedure for requesting a delay.
If the warning letters are ignored, farmers will begin being penalized.
Currently, MDA has 3,825 nutrient management plans covering 661,105 acres — something over half of the state’s acreage. Some 2,825 producers have requested delays for nutrient management plans on 609,717 acres.
In total, the state can account for about 80 percent of the farmland in the state.
— MARK POWELL
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