Agricultural Impacts & Better Management Practices

There are around 87,000 farms in the Chesapeake watershed, which combined cover over a quarter of the land. These 8.5 million acres produce over 50 commodities and make up $10 billion of the Chesapeake’s economy. For as big as the agriculture industry around the Bay, it may be no surprise that it is the largest source of nutrients and sediment entering the Chesapeake every year. Some estimates find that it is the source of around 45% of the phosphorus, 43% of the nitrogen, and 60% of the sediment in the Bay. The nutrients come from animal waste and fertilizers (chemical fertilizer alone accounts for about 17% and 19% nitrogen and phosphorus) and the sediment comes from tilling practices that loosen the soil and make it more vulnerable to erosion. But, the good news is that implementing better management practices on farms is the most cost effective way to reduce nutrients and sediment in the Bay. While they are often voluntary practices, there are grants and opportunities out there for farmers to get help covering the cost of implementing them. Soil management, stream protection, and animal waste management are three areas of focus when it comes to Bay protection.

Maryland has quite a few pushes when it comes to agricultural impacts on the Bay. Overall, the state provides grants to farmers to cover up to 100% of the cost to implement better management practices that reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into the Chesapeake. There’s nearly 40 different practices that can be covered (as seen below). Essentially, this means there are about 40 different practices or changes that a farmer can make on their land that the state will reimburse them for. Many of these better management practices fall into the categories listed above (soil management, stream buffers, manure management, etc). As an example, in 2022 farmers can receive up to $4,500 per acre to install riparian buffers that include pasture fencing. The offer is even extended to include deer fencing to protect grass buffers. A lot about farming, in relation to the Chesapeake Bay’s health, comes down to keeping plants in the soil.

One of the most successful practices that has worked throughout Maryland is the use of cover crops in the state. Cover crops control soil erosion and run-off, and they even improve the health of the soil by locking in nutrients, keeping them from washing away. The crops are usually planted after the summer harvest. They include rye, barley, and other cereal grains. Between 2020 and 2021, around 433,000 acres of cover crops were planted in the state, and over $19 million in grants funded to cover them. So, overall, cover crops improve soil conditions, reduce erosion, reduce sediment, and filter water. Cover crops are a great way to protect the Bay and improve soil health, but there’s some demand for a more fixed solution. Currently, the state is looking at legislation that would improve funding for long-term landscape solutions, like tree buffers and adding permanent grass pastures to the land. Right now, about 80% of funding for these types of projects go towards cover crops, so the state is working on making sure long-term solutions are being funded as well.

(I was very happy to spot some pigs)

Adding a buffer around streams and rivers on farms is really important in protecting the Bay. Just like cover crops, buffers around a stream significantly reduce sediment and nutrient runoff. And as a bonus, it’s one of the most cost effective ways to do so. And farmers will be happy to know that it helps prevent flooding and erosion by slowing down and absorbing water. Buffers can include grasses, reeds, shrubs, bushes, and trees. As I was checking out farms for research, I visited 3 different sites. Each one of them had a stream that was buffered by trees, bushes, and grasses. So, it was not too surprising for me to hear that the states in the Chesapeake watershed have committed to buffering 70% of the rivers and streams by 2025, which is about 900 miles of buffer per year. Another added benefit to these buffers is that they contribute significantly to local biodiversity. Even small patches of buffers in disturbed streams can support both terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. One reason for this is that a buffer can help cool temperatures of the stream and area, which is optimal for many insect and invertebrate life cycles. Also, they are a great habitats for birds. This is especially important for the areas endangered species, like the Mourning Warbler or the Swainson's Warbler. Watch the video below to hear just how important buffers can be.

It’s almost the flip side of the same coin, but pasture fencing around streams keeps livestock and their waste from entering the water. Simply put, if you don’t want your river to be a toilet, don’t let your livestock use it as one. Not only that, but it’s going to help protect the stream banks from damage and erosion from the animals. Not only can their presence disturb the soil, but if they are eating the vegetation around the stream then it’s an additional loss of any benefit the stream may be providing. The easiest way to keep animal waste and nutrients from entering the water and your riverbank intact is to keep your livestock away from the stream in the first place.

This brings me to one more important topic, and that’s manure and poultry litter management. Livestock manure and poultry litter account for about half of the nutrients entering the Bay. And while they are a great natural fertilizer and soil conditioner, they can be easily over applied, so farms are monitored and checked to make sure that phosphorus levels aren’t putting crops at risk of over-enrichment. Maryland has a manure transport program that provides grants to farmers to move manure from farms with high levels of phosphorus to farms that have low levels, or to other facilities that can use it. A few years ago about a million and a half dollars of funding went into transporting nearly 250 tons of manure to approved farms and businesses. 21% of this was poultry litter. The program has been really successful and has seen extraordinary growth in the last few years. It’s important that the manure that isn’t being transported is stored properly, usually in tanks or away from water sources. When applied, the manure is traditionally placed on top of the soil where it is at risk of being washed away. But newer technologies out there actually apply the manure into the soil which keeps it from washing away. This technique can prevent 12% of nitrogen and 36% of phosphorus from washing away versus surface application.

So, there you have it! Those are just a few of the big issues Maryland is working on to promote a more environmentally conscious agriculture industry. In Virginia, they use a similar cost-share program that reimburses farmers up to $150,000 a year for certain better management practices installed on their farms. Since 1988, nearly $300 million has been invested into these practices. Pennsylvania, with 33,000 farms which cover 3 million acres, is having a little bit more difficulty living up to Maryland and Virginia’s standards. This is partially because there are so many farms to be inspected. Many of the inspections are only necessary on larger farms. And with the state having many small scale farms, like in Amish communities, they sometimes aren’t large enough to be considered for inspection. With that said, the state is still providing up to 90% costs in the form of tax credits for high-priority better management practice installations.

On a final note, I’d like to remind readers that none of this should be considered a blame game to point the finger at farmers for causing any sort of disturbance to the Bay. We literally rely on farmers to survive! The point I’m trying to make is that it’s not about blaming them, but more about promoting the fact that we should be helping them and reimbursing them for implementing all of the practices we know work best.