Farmers take a hit with new PMT initiative
A new initiative for farmers with a deadline, the Phosphorous Management Tool aims to curb phosphorous runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.
Starting next week some eastern shore farmers will have to start changing the way they do business if they have what the state of Maryland claims are “high phosphorous levels”. Farmers have a year to start using commercial fertilizer instead of chicken manure for their fields.
“So that means the farmers are going to have to spend more money on commercial fertilizer. See this is the thing, nobody is saying anything bad about commercial fertilizer but the runoff from manure and the runoff from commercial fertilizer is the same. If it’s running off, it’s running off,” said Virgil Shockley, a local farmer and former Worcester County commissioner.
Studies from the state claim otherwise saying that chicken manure deposits more phosphorous in the ground than commercial fertilizer.
With the implementation of the phosphorous management tool and its latest initiative many local farmers say they’re left with one impression
“It’s not good. They’re declaring war on farming is what they’ve done,” Shockley said.
Shockley also told 47 ABC that the claim that phosphorous is running off in to the Chesapeake Bay are merely just guesses.
“They can project what will quote leave a field but no one has done evidence on what actually leaves field nor have they done evidence on what you could plant as far as a buffer strip that would take better care of the phosphorous,” Shockley said.
Under the new initiative the state would review the results over two years, but farmers say they would not see results that quickly.
“They think they can pass the law and wave a magic wand and it’s going to happen. That’s not how it happens out in the real world,” said Charles Wright, president for the Wicomico County chapter of the Maryland Farmers Bureau. “I mean this is a 100 year process. It’s not just going to be five years from now all the phosphorus levels on the Eastern shore or the lower shore have dropped off to nothing.”
Local farmers also say that the soil in the area naturally has high phosphorous levels and that even farm land that has never been fertilized with chicken manure has high levels.
“In three years you’re going to have a disaster because once they take the 300, the over 300 FIV you’re going to eliminate 70 percent of the fields in Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset county,” Shockley said.
The cost to comply with this new initiative has farmers also worried about the future of the farming industry.
Shockley said that the average age of a farmer is over 60 and this change could dissuade young people from pursuing a career in agriculture.
