Fundamental changes are needed in both public policy and private practices in order to save the Chesapeake Bay by giving farmers more help in adopting conservation practices, according to a new report by the non-profit group Environmental Defense.

The report, Farming for Clean Water, outlines a roadmap for Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, which have been moving far too slowly in spite of widespread understanding that the Bay is in trouble.

The primary focus of the study is improving conservation efforts to reduce soil and nutrient runoff from farms, which offer one of the greatest opportunities to restore the health of the Bay. The report includes specific recommendations for Pennsylvania.

“The Chesapeake Bay is in critical condition, but we can take steps to restore its health by cleaning it up faster and more cost-effectively than we are now,” said Suzy Friedman, a report co-author and agricultural projects manager for Environmental Defense. “Farms are the largest and the most indispensable part of the solution. We must help farmers, who already are taking steps to help the Bay, deliver even greater benefits.”

“We have a long way to go, but we can restore the Bay – if we fundamentally change how we fund, deliver, credit and verify agricultural conservation,” said Eileen McLellan, a report co-author and Chesapeake Bay project coordinator for Environmental Defense. “We need more money, but we also must do a better, more cost-effective job with the limited resources at our disposal.”

The report’s recommended objectives include:

· Targeting funds and attention to conservation practices that have proven most cost-effective in reducing farm runoff;

· Making traditional conservation practices -- such as nutrient management, conservation tillage, and cover crops -- more effective by shifting emphasis to performance and outcomes, and by finding ways to make practices pay for themselves;

· Increasing research and education on practices -- such as dairy feed management and alternative cropping systems -- that can help both the Bay and farmers’ bottom lines;

· Increasing technical assistance resources for farmers, and creating market-based financial rewards for farmers who produce clean water and other environmental benefits; and

· Improving our abilities to track conservation funding, verifying what practices are actually implemented, and determining the nutrient and sediment load reductions they generate.

“It is critical that we remain focused on delivering the agricultural piece of a clean Bay,” concluded Friedman. “We hope that the city, federal and state representatives of the Chesapeake Executive Council take advantage of their meeting next Wednesday to increase attention on the role farms can play in developing innovative and cost-effective initiatives.”

“Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay is essential to the economy, heritage, and community fabric of the entire region,” said Ann Swanson, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. “We need to find and promote those practices that are good for farmers.”

A copy of Farming for Clean Water is available online.

NewsClip: Environmental Group Reports Ag Is Key to Bay Cleanup

Link: REAP Farm Conservation Tax Credit Applications Accepted Beginning Jan. 2

11/30/2007