|
The largest used equipment inventory in the Mid-Atlantic is only a click away. Visit our website by clicking here or visit us at one of our 11 locations throughout MD, DE, VA and PA.
|
 |
Farm groups stand in support of SB 213
|
The largest used equipment inventory in the Mid-Atlantic is only a click away. Visit our website by clicking here or visit us at one of our 11 locations throughout MD, DE, VA and PA.
|
|
Farm groups stand in support of SB 213
2.12.2008
By STEPHANIE JORDAN
Associate Editor
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Agricultural and environmental groups gathered last Wednesday at a Maryland Senate hearing and talked about their support for Senate Bill 213, a bill that would redirect funds in the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund to non-point sources of nutrient runoff, and to suggest amendments.
Mike Phipps, president of the Maryland Farm Bureau, said that the organization generally supports the bill, but that there are a few areas in which the bill should improve. Farm Bureau’s first amendment is to make the Maryland Agricultural Cost Share Program (which provides funding for the cover crop program) eligible to receive money from the trust fund.
John Griffin, secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, spoke on behalf of a panel that included Maryland Department of Agriculture. Those on the panel will serve as some of the members of the BayStat committee.
“We’ve been at (cleaning up the Bay) for 25 years,” he said. “And we’re not getting the results we want.”
Griffin talked about budget crunches and the lack of funding for Bay cleanup. That’s why Senate Bill 213 is so crucial, Griffin said, because it takes the annual $50 million from the Bay Trust Fund and targets it at non-point source pollution. The BayStat committee will take that $50 million and put it toward cleaning up the Bay in the quickest, most cost-effective ways.
For example, the most cost-effective way to cleanup the Bay is to plant cover crops; for each pound of nitrogen removed from the Bay, it costs $3 per year to plant cover crops. Other practices prove to be more expensive — to remove one pound of nitrogen from the Bay, it would cost $128 per year to install wetlands and $120 per year for animal waste management.
Cover crops are by far the most cost-effective solution, which is why many organizations other than Farm Bureau are requesting that the bill be amended so that funds can be directed to the Maryland Agricultural Cost Share Program.
The Farm Bureau also requested that money be available to farmers so that they can comply with environmental laws; that there is base level funding so that there can be some reliability in funds; and that the dean of the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources be able to sit on the BayStat committee, which will be responsible for distributing the annual $50 million from the trust fund.
“This bill is a tremendous step in the right direction,” said Lynne Hoot, who spoke at the hearing representing the Maryland Grain Producers Association and the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts. Those organizations are just two of those that want the cost share program to be eligible to receive funds, and would like some of the money to go to groups that can provide technical assistance to farmers.
Bill Satterfield, executive director of the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. (DPI), spoke on behalf of poultry growers across the state, requesting that funds be eligible to help farmers implement Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans (CNMPs) and buy trees for the organization’s Vegetative Environmental Buffers Program. Satterfield also asked that Perdue AgriRecycle be eligible to receive funds to help transport poultry manure out of the Bay watershed.
“Freight costs are killing them,” he said.
Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, also spoke in support of the bill, and asked that the bill, while remaining flexible, provide some assurance that funds will be reliable. He also emphasized the importance of holding the BayStat committee accountable for Bay progress and working with the agricultural community to implement practices that are the most cost effective.
“They’ve shown themselves to be great partners,” Baker said.
The Maryland Oystermen’s Association also spoke in support of the bill, requesting that an oyster seed program be eligible for money from the trust fund, reminding legislators that oysters are the best, most effective filters for the Bay.