Farms in watershed play pivotal role in bay’s health
You couldn't see water from Robbie Newcomb's cornfield in Caroline County, just lots of corn and Robbie's 14-year-old son, J.R., harvesting it behind the wheel of a red combine.
But what happens on farms like Newcomb's and thousands of others in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will play a huge role in determining the bay's fate.
A lot of farm activities are not regulated. For example, there is no requirement to keep cattle out of streams, where they erode banks and drop pollution pies. In many areas, farmers aren't required to leave grassy strips along streams to catch polluted runoff.
To encourage voluntary conservation, Virginia reimburses farmers part of the cost of work such as fencing cattle out of streams and planting buffers.
But 26 years after the bay cleanup began, the Chesapeake continues to suffer. Agriculture is considered the No. 1 source of pollution and provides about 40 percent of damaging nutrients such as nitrogen, according to federal figures.
Some longtime observers say the time has come to impose more mandatory pollution controls on farming and possibly other activities.
"The carrot hasn't worked," said Robert Burnley, former director of the state Department of Environmental Quality.
For now, no one is proposing sweeping controls for farms. But the possibility of any new requirements worries farmers, who already feel they're at the mercy of prices they can't predict and weather they can't control.
"I'm just wondering what they're going to do to us next," said Newcomb, who farms about 3,500 acres in Caroline, Hanover and King William counties.
Among various conservation practices, the state promotes no-till farming, which avoids turning over lots of earth. That helps keep algae-causing nutrients in the soil from washing into streams when it rains.
Newcomb and fellow Hanover farmer Wayne Kirby said they have been farming the no-till way for more than 20 years.
Nearby, in King William, farmer J.N. Mills is fencing his cattle out of streams because it reduces erosion and saves pastureland. It also eliminates foot diseases and other problems that arise when cattle stand in water for long periods.
Because the men didn't take incentive money, their conservation efforts don't show up on government pollution records, said Molly Pugh, director of the Virginia Grain Producers Association, a farm group.
Pugh said many farmers do conservation work without getting incentive money, opting to forgo governmental red tape, among other reasons.
Because those farmers don't get official credit for their conservation efforts, the amount of farm pollution is overstated, Pugh said.
Collecting farm-pollution data is "never going to be perfect," said Rich Batiuk, associate director for science for the Chesapeake Bay Program, the federally led cleanup effort.
But even if the data were perfect, agriculture surely would remain the single biggest source of bay pollution, Batiuk said.
Pugh said new controls on farms would drive up costs, put a lot of farmers out of work, and result in more farmland becoming subdivisions and parking lots.
That, she said, would be a lot worse for the bay.
Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or
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Reader Reactions
The condition of the bay will improve with a combination of increased regulations-yet also with better education on the subject of pollution in the bay. The bay itself is an important asset not only to the water front area but also to the entire state of virginia since the water from the bay is a crucial element in the water cycle. Better education on just how much the Chesapeake Bay affects our population will help people realize the importance of good water quality-and more regulations will remind citizens to keep the water clean for their own benefit as well as that of others.
Why does everyone overlook the obvious: stop making people.
Anyone who claims to care for the environment yet spews out children is a hypocrite.
The Chesapeake Bay is a precious asset to our area. However, it is in a current state of deterioration due to pollution despite 26 years of attempts to reverse these negative effects. These efforts to revive the Bay have been made by mostly volunteers, but as we can see, the work of solely volunteers has not been enough. I do not believe that farmers should be penalized with restrictions that inhibit their ability to earn their living, but rather that everyone in the Chesapeake Bay watershed area be aware of the situation at hand and understand that everyone effects the health of the bay. It is every person’s responsibility to help protect the it. Surely, it would be a tragedy to loose it because of people’s ignorance.
The Chesapeake Bay is an important estuary that sustains important life. It bothers me to know that the majority of pollution into the bay is caused by agricultural waste. I believe that there should be stricter laws on pollution because after many years of trying to clean up the bay, it is still in a less than preferable state, that still seems to be decreasing. I know that it might be unfair to force new laws against farmers who are just trying to make a living, but working together with their community and the government, I am positive they can come up with something beneficial to the bay. In the mean time, while we are waiting for new regulations on pollution, everyone should be doing their parts to take initiative to help reduce the amount of pollution.
There are some problems with what you say charliehorse. While it would be best that we do not impose strict regulations on the farms of the Chesapeake, it has been proven that not enough has been done. Some large-scale corporations simply ignore the requests for better environmental protection in order to increase their profits. Therefore, what is need is an agency with actual teeth. The EPA is not able to handle the challenges that are presented. While it would be best if everyone could simply pitch in, it has been demonstrated that many don’t. As such, the government should probably step in in order to prevent the worst from happening.
I have a scientist friend who volunteers her time helping to clean up the bay. She has tested many water samples in the river below farms, and below subdivisions and golf courses, with their green deserts produced by piling on fertilizers, with no regulations at all. She tells me that the pollution below the well manicured subdivisions is always worse than below the farms.
It apparent that the older methods of farming are not working to help the bay as much as it was predicted, because in the past 26 years it hasn’t made a significant increase in the health of the bay. Although i agree that it’s not just the farmers that are hurting the bay, but maybe there is something more that farmers can do. Even though tilling is one way to help reduce the amount of sediments and nutrients added to the bay, it’s not doing enough. New fertilizers along with new farming techniques and field lay outs should be researched. Such as a way to lay out plant produce that allows the root of the plants to minimize the amount of erosion into the bay. Instead of paying or different types of governmental experiments, the government should leave it up to the farmers to come up with the best way. After all they know the farming techniques the best. Then when a farmer comes up with a way to minimize the erosion the best, he should be rewarded for his efforts. Incentives should then be given to the farmers that change into that type of farming to get the layout started.
Hey everybody, I’m a local high school student who lives in King William. I live in the middle of a farm which is taking steps itself to support the bay’s restoration. However, to refer to the question of whether or not we should instigate regulations on farms, I disagree. I believe we should encourage them to, but farming is how they make a living ans as such regulations shouldn’t be forced on any of them. I also believe that people should swallow a piece of humble pie and admit that perhaps they themselves could make larger strives to protecting the bay and our planet. Buying a hybrid isn’t the only thing that we all can do so forcing things on everyone but ourselves isn’t the solution. I am in no way saying that I’m excluded- I’m part of this world just as everyone else- we should all make strives to protecting and restoring our Chesapeake Bay and watershed.
The Chesapeake Bay is an area vital to the survival of the six states it inhabits, therefore it is valuable to the entire United States and must be protected by US government. Even if volunteer work picks up and is influential, it can only go so far.Organizations should use more enforcement with requirements, instead of simply encouraging healthier farming processes for the Bay. There may be some disagreement from farmers about more regulation, but if government and agriculture community work together, a compromise could be met, because the Bay is essential to farmers’ work as well. A more up-front approach would better the conditions of the Bay much more quickly than occasional volunteer work. The Bay is not a lost cause, but if the Bay community does not come together and agree on specific regulations instead of only suggestions, people will soon lose interest and this national treasure will be lost forever.
The Bay sustains so many lives and its health is directly linked to the health of our environment. On top of this so many people enjoy all the recreational opportunities the bay has to offer. The main source of pollution in the Bay comes from agriculture, such as sediment run off from plowed fields on farms. I think strict government restriction of farms is not the answer, because that will greatly increase prices and lead to people losing jobs. Instead people need to be educated and made aware of their impact on the health of the Bay. If people are reminded of how important the Bay is to the health of the environment, and how much it means to thousands of people, they will take greater consideration of the consequences of their actions on the Bay. Farmers need to be encouraged and included in saving the Bay, and reminded that their actions can help as much as they can harm. Small steps such as building a fence to keep cows out of a stream can make a difference. Everyone needs to be encouraged to work towards a healthier Bay, rather than accused or harshly regulated.
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