The Susquehana is Cleaner

The most recent report out of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) shows that there are less nutrients in the Susquehanna River than there has been in the past.  The SRBC is a multi-state organization that monitors the river at 6 original locations (Towanda, Danville, Lewisburg, Newport, Marietta, and Conestoga, PA) and 17 additional locations that cover not only Pennsylvania, but New York and one site in Maryland.  This most recent report compares 2008 loads to 1985 loads.  At all of the 6 original locations the trends for total nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment are all decreasing meaning that the Susquehanna is cleaner than it was in 1985.  None of the trends for any of the other nitrogen or phosphorus forms have increased at any of the 6 sites.  As in the past, this report shows that winter and early spring are the worst times of the year for nutrient loading into the Susquehanna.  Although the two sites in Lancaster County are trending lower for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loading these sites still have the highest loading of any of the sites monitored.  

For as much as we hear about how bad things are and point fingers at each other I think this is a nice bit of good news that we are doing something right and things are getting better.  We still have a ways to go to acheive our goals, but we are moving in the right direction.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

The Mid-Atlantic region has gotten hammered by, not one, but two major storms in the past week and many are still trying to recover.  My dog has loved every minute of it, the rest of us have had to deal with the inconveniences of shoveling and trying to get to work, but dairy farmers have been hit financially by these storms.  Dairy producers rely on the milk truck to pick up milk at least every other day if not more often and feed trucks to deliver purchased feeds to their cows.  During the past week as many as 300 farms in Lancaster County, and potentially others elsewhere, have had to dump milk because the milk trucks can not get through the roads to pick up the milk.  This is a huge financial loss to the farmers, but there can also be environmental concerns related to dumping of the milk.  Milk is high in many nutrients, and as much as it is a good food for us it is also a great food for bacteria and other microorganisms in local waterways.  This can lead to a depletion of oxygen in the water killing fish and other aquatic organisms.  Therefore, farmers are encouraged to try to dump excess milk in manure storage facilities if available.  Storage facilities are sure to fill up quickly from snow, manure, and now the milk so many farmers may be forced to spread the milk on the fields.  Even spreading might be difficult as gaining access to fields will be a challenge.  However, whatever the situation is on the farm dumped milk should be managed appropriately.  Set-backs from waterways and wells should be observed and amounts spread should be recorded and accounted for in nutrient application calculations. 

EPA Visits Local Farms

EPA has recently been in the county investigating a local watershed that is identified as impaired due to agriculture activity. This watershed contains 24 farms, of which, 20 are animal feeding operations (18 dairy farms).  This watershed is in the heart of Amish country and 23 of the 24 farms are run by an Amish farmer. 

To the pleasant surprise of EPA, all the farms used cover crops to some degree, most farms used no-till cropping practices, and most took regular soil tests.  On the down side, only 4 farms had manure storage that could last more than 4 months, which means that many were spreading manure during the winter (legal in Pennsylvania, but not recommended), none followed a phosphorus based nutrient management (not required in Pennsylvania), and only three had any type of stream bank fencing or riparian buffers.   

EPA also looked at the four key best management practices identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which are buffers, nutrient management planning, cover crops, and no-till/low-till, and found that only two of these practices were consistently utilized in the watershed.  Buffers and nutrient management planning were lacking on many farms, although the farms that were required to have nutrient management plans did.  Another area of concern was that only 15% of farms had a conservation plan, which is required under Pennsylvania law for all farms. 

Overall, I think both the EPA and the farmers involved were relatively pleased with how the process went, and both sides deserve a lot of credit for working through the process in a constructive manner.  Although there are things that still need to be addressed on these farms this exercise showed that if given the right information and guidance farmers are readily implementing conservation best management practices on their farms.  For agencies that work with farmers, this exercise identified areas that we need to address further. EPA plans to investigate more watersheds in the area, but this has been an interesting insight into what they see as an ideal farm and what we should be striving for.