Chesapeake Bay Commission Releases Report On Improving Assistance To Farmers On Conservation Practices

The interstate Chesapeake Bay Commission Thursday will release a report on how to better support farmers in their efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution damaging local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

The report-- Boots On The Ground-- demonstrates the overwhelming needs of farmers for increased levels of help –  technical assistance – when working to reduce pollution from agricultural operations.  

This is the first Bay-wide report documenting the escalating need for more technical assistance to guide farmers in planning and installing pollution control practices.

“With the overwhelming amount of reliance on agriculture to help clean up the Bay, there simply aren’t enough ‘boots on the ground’ to provide the help needed to farmers to get the job done,” said Commission Chairman Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming). “Our report is the first of its kind to answer the question of what farmers need and how we can meet that need. As work on national Farm Bill gears up in Washington, its release could not have been better timed.”

Some key findings in the report--

-- Not nearly enough technical assistance to farmers to meet the demand and it will only get worse; and

-- Technical assistance professionals to help farmers must be increased by 60 percent to meet current demand or nutrient and sediment reductions will not be met.

Recommendations--

-- Create a robust network of private sector and nonprofit providers of technical assistance;

-- Enhance job climate for government conservation professionals providing assistance; and

-- Provide consistent, stable and predictable funding for technical assistance and cost-share programs.

Click Here for a copy of the report.

[Note: This same issue affects farmers all across Pennsylvania, not just in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.]

Pennsylvania’s other representatives on the Commission include Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, Sen. Richard Alloway (R-Franklin), Rep. Keith Gillespie (R-York), Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) and DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.

For more information on initiatives and other reports, visit the Chesapeake Bay Commission website.