Maryland Department of Agriculture announces “simpler” permit process for no-land chicken farms
Salisbury, Md. – On Wednesday, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced no-land, pasture-only chicken farms will be able to extend their nutrient management plans from three to five years.
“Maryland farmers have long been leaders in responsible nutrient management and environmental stewardship,” said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks in a statement released by his office. “By extending the plan cycle for qualifying low-risk operations, we are reducing unnecessary administrative burdens while continuing our commitment to protecting soil health, water quality and the Chesapeake Bay.”
No-land farms are those that do not have land on which to place manure due to space saving operations or the land not owned by the farmers working it. Officials at the department said “no-land, pasture-only and organic poultry operations that are considered low-risk because they do not spread manure or other sources of nutrients to the land.”
Holly Porter, the executive director of the Delmarva Chicken Association believes the changes are a “win-win” for regulators and farmers alike.
“That just really saves time and saves, you know, a lot of of red tape and burden, especially for farmers where the plans haven’t changed,” she said in an interview with WMDT. “For our no-land plans, that nutrient management plan is going to look the same.”
Virgil Shockley, who has been farming in Worcester County for more than 60 years, says the changes are good ones but expressed frustration over how long it’s taken for them to be in place.
“This is a good thing, but the thing should have never, ever been implemented in the first place,” he said. “And we tried telling them that these, these guys that have no land, they’re not going to use the manure. Why should they have to it management plan at all.”
According to Porter, these changes will have the short term impact of making things easier on farmers statewide. She said chicken growers are highly regulated and want to maintain compliance but that the easier and “more streamlined” the regulations are, the better.
