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EPA, USDA release manure management strategy
Green Meadows Farm has four sand-manure seperators operating at its Riley Road farm in Elsie, Clinton County. Here, an auger seperates and washes sand for reuse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency released a proposal Sept. 17 that they hope will lessen the effects livestock and poultry farms could have on water quality and public health. The draft of the Unified Animal Feeding Operation Strategy is part of efforts called for in President Bill Clinton's Clean Water Action Plan released in February.
The agencies welcome public comment on the proposal for 120 days.
"The basic proposal is that all farmers that have animals will be required to have what they call Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans in place by the year 2008," said Kevin Kirk, Michigan Farm Bureau livestock specialist. "This management plan is really no different than the Right-to-Farm manure management plan that we've been recommending farmers in Michigan have in place."
The draft strategy says owners and operators of "animal feeding operations" (defined as fewer than 1,000 animal units) should take actions to reduce pollutant runoff by developing Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans within 10 years.
Larger farms -- referred to as "concentrated animal feeding operations" in the plan -- will be under tougher guidelines. By 2003, they will have to obtain a national discharge permit, as well as implement a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan.
"All farms that have had manure spills or are over 1,000 animal units will be required to have a permit," Kirk said. "It's something that proves to people that you understand proper manure management, that you're being a good steward of the soil and the environment."
Kirk said one welcome relief is that farmers who must hold permits because of a previous manure spill will get a five-year grace period under the proposal. "If they continue to do a good job, the permit requirement is dropped."
Kirk believes some changes should be made to the proposal, including spelling out what the penalties would be if farmers did not fully comply and eliminating a section in the plan referring to feed management.
According to USDA's executive summary of the strategy, "When possible, animal diets and feed should be modified to reduce the amounts of nutrients in manure."
"We can't necessarily always regulate the feeding requirements of an animal based on the output of the nutrients in the manure," Kirk said. "Good farmers today are feeding for production and animal health."
Overall, Kirk said the strategy fits well with Michigan's Right-to-Farm program and recommended manure-management practices.
"I feel very good about what I've seen so far," he said. "It may not be perfect, but it's also better than what we could have gotten."
USDA and EPA will hold 10 to 12 regional meetings on the draft strategy. The meetings have not yet been scheduled.
The draft is available from USDA service centers, EPA regional offices, or on the Internet at www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/cleanwater/afo/ or www.epa.gov/owm/afostrat.htm. Comments may be sent to Denise C. Coleman, USDA, NRCS, P. O. Box 2890, Washington, D.C. 20013-2890, e-mail: denise_c.coleman@usda.gov.
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