Outcry Leads To State Farm Plan Fizzling Out

BERLIN — The Eastern Shore farming community breathed a collective sigh of relief last week after the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced it was postponing the implementation of the controversial Phosphorous Management Tool (PMT) and was going back to the drawing board on the controversial issue.

The new tool developed by the University of Maryland would have determined acceptable levels of phosphorous in the state’s farm fields that leach into streams and tributaries and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. Under the proposal, if phosphorous levels taken at farm fields all over the state and particularly on the Eastern Shore exceeded the new standard, farmers would not be allowed to use organic chicken manure as farm fertilizer and would be forced to purchase much more expensive chemical fertilizers.

The PMT appeared to be on the fast track for approval, despite overwhelming concern raised by the state’s farming community. Earlier this month, however, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced it was postponing the implementation of the PMT after considerable public outrage was expressed at various public forums across the shore this fall and decided to go back to the drawing board with the plan.
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