Farmers & The Bay

I have been a farmer all my life. I also used to be a state legislator and Secretary of Agriculture. So I was very interested in the fight in Annapolis about whether the taxpayer-supported University of Maryland law school should be suing a farm family. I would like to offer some thoughts on the matter.

Farmers are being accused of polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Because of this, some environmental groups are going after farmers very aggressively. One such group is the Waterkeepers, which has a history of using lawsuits to get their way. It was their lawsuit against a farm family that lives about a dozen miles from me that started this whole chain of events.

The Waterkeepers said they found a pile of chicken litter on the ground and claimed it was polluting the water in a nearby ditch. I found it interesting that they said they found this pile in October, but waited until December to make any announcement. If it was such a source of pollution, they should have spoken up right away. Then they said they were going to sue within 60 days. At no time along the way did they get in touch with the farm family or offer to help stop the pollution they claimed they found.

Then it was proven that the pile was not chicken litter. Instead it was Class A biosolids (treated municipal sewage sludge from Ocean City). Farmers use these biosolids as fertilizer, and it is an approved use. But the Waterkeepers still did not give up their lawsuit. And it seems they got the law school students involved by telling them they were going after some big polluters.

It is bad enough to use taxpayer money to help put farmers out of business. It is even worse to file a lawsuit when they did not even have their facts right. The Maryland Department of the Environment said the sewage sludge may not have even caused the pollution, since there are many other sources (such as wildlife) that could have caused the same readings in the ditch.

I know families who once farmed but have now gone into other businesses. Some did so because they were losing so much money they could not afford to farm any longer. Others quit because their kids had to move to other areas to find work and they did not have anyone in the family to take up farming. Many farmers have no choice but to sell their land, which turns into housing developments.

I learned many years ago that a well-managed acre of farmland produces a lot less pollution than an acre of housing. Farmers are doing this by using cover crops, nutrient management plans and other best practices. They are doing it very well. If we help farmers stay in business, the result will be far less harm to the Chesapeake Bay.

No one I know, myself included, wants to see our waters and land polluted. Farmers were the first environmentalists. We need our land to make a living. We love the Eastern Shore and want to be good stewards of God's creation. But this lawsuit, and more like it, will drive farmers out of business.

I hope everyone who has a farm, who benefits from having agriculture in our region and who appreciates our quality of life will call on the Waterkeepers to stop using threats and lawsuits. If they really want to clean the bay, let them start working with our farmers to protect our environment.

Lewis R. Riley

Parsonsburg