NEWS &VIEWS You Can Use
Manure & Streams: Is MDA going to fence out the horse industry? In 2011, the Maryland equestrian commu-
nity was successful in helping to halt proposed changes to the Maryland Department of Agri- culture nutrient management regulations. T e proposed changes would have imposed draco- nian and unre- alistic demands on horse farms. Imagine fenc- ing out every gully,
waterway “While these regulations are primarily an attempt
40,000 Maryland citizens who are part of the state’s horse industry. Our Farm Stewardship Committee is an eff ort by horse farm owners to better understand the impact of their farms on the environment, improve environmental practices,
and
to address nutrient runoff from large livestock and grain operations, the largest number of individu- als who will have to comply are small horse farm
or wash that runs through a pasture! MDA was forced to reconsider what they were asking for the farming community as a whole, and the equestrian community in particular. MDA went back to the drawing board, and began negotiations with various ag-related and other stakeholder groups. On June 29, the De- partment fi nalized and posted its proposal for new rules. T e stated goal of the process is to achieve consistency in the way all sources of nutrients are managed. In July, MDA hosted public comment meetings. T e public com- ment period closed on August 13. T e new regulations are intended to help
owners who rarely fertilize and whose manure piles consist primarily of hay and straw.” - Steuart Pittman, Maryland Horse Council President (Dodon Farm, Anne Arundel County)
demonstrate to the public that well-managed horse farms and the pastures and hay fi elds that support them make a positive
Maryland meet nitrogen and phosphorus re- duction goals spelled out in its Watershed Im- plementation Plan (WIP) to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. In crafting the nutrient management regulations, MDA has attempted to appeal to Governor Martin O’Malley’s Bay- Stat Science Panel as well as concerns raised by environmental, agricultural and municipal stakeholders. While the 2012 version of the proposed modi-
fi cations takes into consideration some of the concerns of the ag industry (which includes the horse industry), the Maryland Farm Bureau and the Maryland Horse Council are not satisfi ed. For more background, visit
equiery.com, scroll down and, on the lower right hand side under cat- egories, click on “Legislation and Regulation” for a complete archive of related articles and posts.
Turning Horse Farm Owners Into Outlaws
by Steuart Pittman, president of Maryland Horse Council and owner/operator of Dodon Farm, Da- vidsonville (Anne Arundel County) T e Maryland Horse Council represents the
contribution to eff orts to reduce nutrient run- off into the Chesapeake Bay. It was an honor to be asked by Governor O’Malley to participate as one of the fi ve rep- resentatives of agriculture in his staff ’s attempt to forge a consensus on these regulations with fi ve representatives of environmental organiza- tions. While that eff ort did not change opin- ions on the regulations at hand, our hope is that it helped to forge relationships that will be the foundation for future cooperation. T e state’s 79,100 horses reside on 16,040 separate properties that total 587,000 acres. While these regulations are primarily an at- tempt to address nutrient runoff from large live- stock and grain operations,
the
largest number of individuals who will have to comply are small horse farm own- ers who rarely fertilize and whose manure piles consist primarily of hay and straw. Many horse farms owners have not yet come into compliance with existing nutrient manage- ment requirements. Small horse farm operators do not often participate in government farm programs of any kind, and convincing them that a nutrient management plan is a useful tool that can improve their pastures was diffi cult before the proposed changes. If the new regulations take eff ect the incentive for farms to stay outside the program will be much greater.
Winter Spreading We believe that the ban on spreading horse
MDA Responds to Equiery Readers
MDA provided The Equiery with a letter trying to explain their perspective as well as the process of crafting these changes to the nutrient management regs. Unfortunately, we received the letter too late to include in this print edition, but please visit www.
equiery.com to read MDA’s response.
manure mixed with bedding on fi elds during the winter months is not only a burden on farms that have no appropriate stacking sites, but also is a threat to our waterways. Horse farm owners have been told for years that harrowing their pastures spreads manure piles so that the nutrients can benefi t the soil. Likewise, they have been taught that the mix of manure with straw or shavings that is evenly and lightly spread across pastures by their ma- nure spreaders is good for soil and better for our streams than stockpiling the manure and creat- ing rivers of brown water during heavy rains. T ese new regulations tell us that we can no longer use our manure spreaders during the winter months that our animals are kept in barns and our pastures turn to mud. We are al- lowed to keep our horses outside, where they destroy the roots of our pastures and deposit their manure, but we are not allowed to keep them in stalls and put that same manure mixed with straw or shavings evenly across the ground with spreaders where it can soak into the soil under light winter rains and melting snow and improve soil quality for spring and summer pasture growth. T e heavier manure spread- ing that farm- ers would do in early spring in order to dis- pose of the full winter’s manure stockpile is an
environmental threat when heavy spring rains wash the manure into adjacent streams. For the majority of small horse farms that do not have appropriate places to stockpile a winters’ worth of manure, the new version of the Nutrient Management Program is a threat to the viability of their operations. T e cost of transporting manure by trucks to off -site com- posting facilities is prohibitive for most farms and the impact to the environment is negative. Nobody in the scientifi c or environmental
community has shown that leaving horses out during the winter is better for water quality in adjacent streams than spreading the bedding
continued...
IF YOU HAVE NEWS, VIEWS OR UPDATES TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE SEND THEM TO Editor at The Equiery, P.O. Box 610, Lisbon, MD 21765 • FAX: 410-489-7828 • email
editor@equiery.com.
Be sure to include your full name, phone number and address. All submissions become the property of The Equiery. 8 | THE EQUIERY | SEPTEMBER 2012 800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
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