The Chesapeake Bay Foundation this week released a new report entitled, “Vital Signs: Assessing the State of Chesapeake Agriculture in 2005.” The report found that the region’s farms are facing mounting threats, with 10 of the 12 indicators rated weak or unhealthy.

The report, prepared with input from farmers and other agricultural experts, reviewed as much as 50 years of data on 12 key indicators in three categories, Community, Economics, and Environment.

The report found sharp declines in the number of farms and total acreage of farmland as well as a steep decline in the share of consumer food dollars received by farmers. In addition, Bay watershed farmers do not receive their fair share of federal agriculture dollars.

In Pennsylvania, CBF is calling for passage of the “Farmers First Initiative,” sponsored by Sen. Noah Wenger (R-Lancaster) and Sen. Mike Waugh (R-York). The legislation will provide additional state funding for agricultural preservation, tax relief for farmers, and supports the development of alternative uses for excess manure.

According to the federal Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, agriculture in the lower Susquehanna region alone produces more than 286,000 tons of excess manure each year. CBF expects to work with Senators Wenger and Waugh to find funding to support development of alternative uses that benefit both farmers and the environment.

“While manure is an important and valuable source of nutrients essential to healthy ecosystems and crop production, excess manure on the landscape is threatening the quality of our local rivers and streams, as well as the Chesapeake Bay,” said CBF Pennsylvania Executive Director Matt Ehrhart. “Developing alternative uses for excess manure that create value for the region’s farmers is vital to the health of agriculture in the Commonwealth.”

Well-managed agricultural land provides many more environmental benefits than developed land. However, farm families are being squeezed, with expenses rising faster than income. Techniques and technologies that reduce pollution from agriculture have been demonstrated to be effective, but farmers cannot shoulder the costs of implementation alone.

The Vital Signs report was developed to highlight the importance of agriculture in the region, identify trends, and begin to focus discussion on actions that are necessary to reduce pollution and improve profitability.

The report ranked indicators as ‘healthy,’ ‘good,’ ‘fair,’ ‘weak,’ and ‘unhealthy.’ No indicator merited a healthy rating, and only one was rated as good and one was rated fair. Seven were rated weak and four were rated unhealthy.

Across the watershed, the report recommends:

· Building on commitments to protect farmland, especially prime farmland;

· Ensuring that Bay region farmers get an equitable share of federal Farm Bill payments, and increasing federal and state payments that support conservation practices;

· Increasing the economic viability of farming by promoting direct sales and creating incentives for farmers to adopt conservation practices; and

· Investing in new technologies to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution and develop alternative uses for excess manure.

For more information, visit the Vital Signs webpage.

(See separate Digest story on Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy)

NewsClips: Farms, Bay Still Need Improvement

9/23/2005