Should Wicomico farmers give up raising chickens and just sell food at farmers' markets? That's what someone suggested last night during our council meeting. There was a group of citizens at our public comments section raising concerns about chicken houses being built on West Road. These residents have legitimate issues, and the council is working to update our zoning laws. But there is also another group using this matter to advance an agenda that involves ending large-scale poultry operations here. People last night said they like family farms, but when a family farmer spoke up to explain the realities of his poultry operation, he was heckled. As I said last night, the council has to find a way to address the legitimate concerns of people who live next to chicken houses, but our laws must allow farming to remain viable here. I'm fine with farmers raising food for the farmers' market, but that type of farming is simply not going to provide the economic activity to our area that poultry farming does. I think that's a reality that most people in Wicomico County understand.
47 comments:
The "people" are not obligated to live next to a commercial chicken house. As far as the smaller "family farms" goes, it's a great idea, but it simply will not work. It takes longer to produce the chicken/pork/beef/etc, there is a higher cost that consumers will not pay, and then no one wins. I produce all of my own food, and finish some animals for friends and family. Once it goes beyond that, corners have to be cut and that is not something I would do.
there are some huge chicken houses going up on Snow Hill Rd. just before Airport Rd. when heading towards Snow Hill.
When I moved here, I had to sign an acknowledgement that this was an agricultural area and I had to put up with sights and smells!
Shouldn't change!
First thing don't allow manure sheds to be built anywhere near property lines because no matter how anyone tries to spin it, a manure shed belonging to your neighbor that is right next to your property lowers your property value. Manure sheds should be built as far away from property lines as possible.
And before anyone says they were there first I'll nip that in the bud right now. An elderly couple in Wicomico co bought their home built in the 40's in the 50's. They've lived there since. About 10 or 12 yrs ago the neighbor who isn't even from the country much less the area expanded a chicken operation and built the manure shed right behind the elderly people's home. No one wants their house now. It is worthless. No one wants the buy the home and the only reason is the chicken farm next door and the stupid officials who allow manure sheds to be built right on top of a neighbor are to blame. The blight, the unemployment, the poverty are the direct result of having stupid people in the local government.
No one is forcing anyone to live any where. This has always been an agricultural area.
The U.S Dept of Ag has guidelines that have to followed to raise poultry and other foods. If we do not have commercial farming, our food will come from China or Mexico, where they do not have the guidelines we do. That will also eliminate any fresh food whatsoever.
I understand that people do not like living near a commercial farm. I understand that waterways get polluted because of run-off and such. Water pollution needs to be the main issue addressed and find a solution to this. However it will never be completely eliminated because we have to use fertilizer (chicken poop) to grow our crops.
If all food only comes from family farms, 1. there will not be enough to feed our country. 2. It will become so expensive, no one will be able to afford to eat. We can all barely afford to eat healthy food now.
It makes no sense that a bag of oranges is $4-6 and for $6.00 we can buy enough the cookies, chips and donuts to make you sick.
NO FARMS = NO FOOD. It's not that difficult to comprehend.
I think if people are going to complain, the poultry companies should just up and leave. Go to farm friendly states. Then lets see the cess pool that is Salisbury and the surrounding area go down the drain more than it already is.
Wicomico County is agricultural if you dont like chickens, hogs etc please go to the western shore, Baltimore, DC, where there is no growing of YOUR chicken/pork that you go to the grocery store to purchase. If you cant stand where YOUR FOOD comes from do us a favor and MOVE! WE APPRECIATE OUR FARMERS/GROWERS.
Until it is literally in your back yard, you have no clue and are just spouting gibberish.
11:02 is correct, stupid people in government not looking after their citizens and busy kissing the behind of big business, who are also not looking after anyone's interest other than their own.
Unless you have financially been directly harmed by this "progress" your thoughts and opinions are truly meaningless and you do not know what you are talking about.
OK....first off....the "PEOPLE" you speak of were there first. They have nice homes that will be down wind of the mega chicken farms. So they are NOT just complainers.
Second....there has been a market crop up from mega farms in PA that takes the manure from the farms for the use of growing mushrooms. That is a good idea but how far it goes and how much they can handle coming from Maryland has a limit.
Third: These new mega farms are supposed to have a Nutrient Management plan BEFORE they are allowed to build....(that is how it was intended anyway). I would like to know (see) that plan. The Maryland Department of Agriculture is responsible for the oversight of this mess.
Fourth: The Paleo channel is at risk here and manure sheds would be poison to the ground below the shed with mega amounts of chicken sh*t. Big business will poison us if we all just say...it ain't in my back yard so why get involved.
Who is the idiot that believes a farmer can maintain his expenses by selling only at farmers markets? People in this area do not support farmers markets. I go to 3 markets a week, 2 in Salisbury when they are open and never see enough money being spent to sustain these farm families. Farmers pay more for their tractors than a lot of people pay for their homes. The tractor is a necessary tool required to farm. It seems the only people that complain about farmers are the same ones that move here for a better life from what they were living across the bridge. The bridge has no tolls for your return trip. Stop blaming the farmers for all of the water pollution. Start looking at all of these water front properties with lush lawns. How much chemical fertilizer are they using annually? I would be willing to bet they don't adhere to the law of not fertilizing between Nov 15 and Mar 1. They are in Lowes stocking up on Roundup and then complain about farmers. To suggest the big chicken companies leave the area is assinine. We'd be better off if the hypocrites packed up and left. No one would miss them but we'd all miss Perdue, Tyson, Amick, Mountaire. People really need to think before opening their mouths, especially when there mouth is full of chicken.
11:35, "Stupid people in government", REALLY??? I'd say it's more like stupid citizens who keep voting for the same people over and over again.
Playing Monday Morning Quarterback because YOU didn't get involved and complaining after the fact is complete BS.
When you point one finger at another person, know that three more are pointing right back at you.
I'm going to add, WHERE were all of YOU when these FORUMS were going on, asking candidates their position on this topic, NOWHERE!
Agreed, Joe. And worse, when they get someone good in, like a Debbie Campbell or a Terry Cohen, they don't show up any more. Threw those girls to the wolves.
Where do I call or go to find this nutrient management plan?
These chicken farmers are as bad as a drug dealer, they peddle poison to young people, chicken farmers dump poison into our water!
Stop it!!!! You can't compare drug dealers to chicken farmers. What's next NIMBY's? Go move to ocean pines where you need government permission to paint your house! Farmers were here long before most of you complainers. Pack your s*** and go back from whence you came. You signed the right to farm notice when you bought land here. Live with it or leave.
"The U.S Dept of Ag has guidelines that have to followed to raise poultry and other foods. If we do not have commercial farming, our food will come from China or Mexico, where they do not have the guidelines we do. That will also eliminate any fresh food whatsoever."
Wrong, Double Wrong Triple Wrong and Quadruple Wrong The fact is both China and Mexico as well as almost every single other country in the world won't allow factory farming such as this in their country. They would rather the stupid US supply them with meat while turning the US land into a toxic waste dump.
It's called 'free trade.' We supply them with chickens and they supply us with automobiles, electronics, clothes, shoes and everything else under the sun. I agree stupid, stupid Americans.
According to the state of MD,effective immediately no more fertilizer be it manure or commercial can be allowed on my farmland... So every mean I have to fertilize my crops is banned,is there ways to conform to this,yes,but it would cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars... Therefore my operation is done,soon to be followed by other farming operations....you people bitch about what you see or smell,give me a break,my lively hood is over,my son who wants to farm,probably not going to happen,the legacy of this farm being handed down to a fifth generation.. Nope.this is something to bitch about...
LOL 12:34 it's not just the water. Those chickens themselves are nasty. I wouldn't give one to a rabid dog as their last meal. I really feel for and pity those who truly believe they are getting quality when they eat that junk.
"Anonymous said...
Stop it!!!! You can't compare drug dealers to chicken farmers. What's next NIMBY's? Go move to ocean pines where you need government permission to paint your house! Farmers were here long before most of you complainers. Pack your s*** and go back from whence you came. You signed the right to farm notice when you bought land here. Live with it or leave.
February 3, 2016 at 12:49 PM"
Well of course farmers were here before most people, but the fact remains they was REAL family farms and not factory farms which are industrial operations that snake oil salemen convinced you backwards people were family farms. Please people get off the shore once in awhile. Travel to areas like Fauquier county VA, Lancaster Co PA and other areas and educate yourselves as to what a real family farm is. It is no wonder this area is depressed when it should be booming being in between the ocean and several large cities.
"since 1999, $5.6 billion in state money has gone towards the removal of excess manure from farms." This is in a lot of the articles out today related to proposed legislation making the companies responsible for getting rid of the manure and not the contract grower.
Why? Why are tax payers subsidizing this? Why are the companies not responsible? It is foolish to think you are getting cheap chicken. The hidden costs of are astronomical. Not only this, but in lower property values due to the farms themselves and because most of their employees can't afford homes thus lowering values. Too much supply and not enough people to buy. Then you have the tax payers subsidizing a large number of the employees in the form of one or more welfare benefit. They also drain the non profits of their services. Another thing to remember is that big food is behind entitlement expansions esp food related. Not only does it mean they move more product but more of their employees are then entitled to tax payer financed benefits which means they don't have to give raises. Wise up people. These aren't good companies. They suck off the system which means you.
Donald Trump spoke out on free trade and brought up how we only export meat and China and other countries are importing everything else we use into the US. It really is messed up, us feeding the world and being stuck with the chicken crap tainted waterways and dead worthless soil.
These are not FARMS. They are industrial feeding stations. Big Difference. guess Mark Kilmer doesn't have one of these industrial operations in his neighborhood and i doubt he would stand for it either. Joe i do not understand your question about where were we? We were never informed that this type of operation was even available here. No one knew it was happening until the MDE permits showed up on line.
As for The local farmer he set the mood when he stated we were reacting to unfounded rears. Made him sound like an idiot. We are responding to facts and our lively hood as well as he is. He like DPI shows little respect for the neighboring communities.
It is easy to respond quickly when you are not the one being attacked isn't it.
I am not a come here either. Have lived here all my life and worked chicken houses from the time I was 4 . These are industrial sites not chicken farms. Big difference.
Tyson says they are making them resubmit the proposal. I understand that only means 10 houses instead of 13. WOW
The big chicken industry is so subsidized by the tax payers it's not even funny. Take the cover crop program. It is nothing more than a way to use up the manure in the off season and the tax payers are footing the bill. Anyone who believes we are so lucky because our food doesn't cost much is incredibly stupid.
Who are the people bringing this chicken condo here? Are they foreigners who received the money from the government to start the operation. I have heard they are from Virginia. Are they chicken farmers in Virginia as well. I was told that one of the largest chicken operations on the shore was government subsidized and operated by people who hardly speak english while the local farmer cannot get a break. Is any of this truth?
Should Wicomico farmers give up raising chickens and just sell food at farmers' markets?
Only if they want to lose their shirts.
If you have food on your table, thank a farmer.
farmers quit farming = land coming up for sale because farmers do not want pay property taxes that that can't make any income off of = developers buy the land and make that land into subdivisions...isn't that the grand scheme behind this
4:10 The farmer is originally from Pakistan and lives in Northern VA. Anytime someone is under contract w/big chicken, big meat, big agribusiness they are government subsidized. The real true family farmer gets nothing. The excuse the government uses is the subsidies keep commodity prices higher. The real question is why are tax payers subsidizing these mega companies because that is what it boils down to. They should be paying to get rid of the manure or for cover crop programs and for their contract farmers to put in cement pad, manure sheds, etc and not the tax payers.
What I couldn't understand is why those hill billies moved here from Pennsylvania and New Jersey then complain about our way of life and demand that we change the laws to satisfy their wants.
GTH Back North you dumb Yankees, you are not wanted here!
3:24 You are wrong. A lot of people who you say are complaining can trace their roots in the area back to the American Revolution.
All this "come here" nonsense. You people are stupid and it's no wonder the lower shore is a craphouse. Why anyone farmer or otherwise would be for this is perplexing. All more chicken houses do is keep the prices down for those already under contract. You people really are backwards.
Exactly. More chicken houses only benefits the companies and is detrimental to the farmers themselves. The more people under contract, the less the companies have to pay the farmers. The less the farmers make, the more the local economy suffers. This Kilmer's either a dingbat who lacks forward thinking skills or is in the pocket of special interest.
AMEN to 11:21! Feb. 3
The Question of the Day should be why is Marc Kilmer not looking out for the chicken farmers already operating in Wic Co? Why is he so worried about someone from Northern VA and not those he represents. It's not rocket science. The more chicken houses there are, the more prices will remain stagnant or drop for the growers. Same with the Delmarva Poultry Industry. Why aren't they looking out for the farmers who have already invested 100's of 1000's of dollar in their chicken houses?
"The "people" are not obligated to live next to a commercial chicken house"
"commercial chicken house"? But I thought they were considered agriculture? You can't have it both ways. If they are "commercial" then the land they are built on should be zoned commercial.
"Anonymous said...
When I moved here, I had to sign an acknowledgement that this was an agricultural area and I had to put up with sights and smells!
Shouldn't change!
February 3, 2016 at 11:00 AM"
You "had" to sign an acknowledgement 11:00? It's the Right to Farm disclosure and you don't *have* to sign it. It makes sense to *not* sign as it's never a good idea to sign away your right to sue. With that being said, it really is a useless document anyway. You can still sue and a lot of the time judges are inclined to strike a middle ground. In other words the farming operation continued but with restrictions applied.
Response from Rick Green
First of all, let me say that I attended the council meeting, seated in the front row.
Councilman Kilmer misstated with respect the "hassling" of the CAFO farmer from Hebron. Truth is ALL attendees listened carefully and politely to the gentleman with absolutely NO comments or murmuring at all.
Councilman, please refrain from trying to stir up animosity and division in an effort to further support your position and that of two of your fellow council members who are IN FAVOR OF THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT AND close minded on residential concerns.
We are not anti-chicken farming at all! We are opposed to commercial ventures of the magnitude of the proposed project, owned by people who do not live here (and correction is needed - the family resides in Virginia and is not intending to live on the property).Tyson(Virginia) would provide the birds etc.-truck the mature birds to Virginia for processing-ship the meat overseas leaving our pristine AG land with "FEATHERS AND FECES".
Chicken growers contribute a great deal to the local and state economy and we CHERISH them and all farm operations on the shore. We want to protect them as well against big commercial farm operators while at the same time retaining acceptable air quality levels and the protect the purity of the Paleo Channel.
Rick Green
All of you people asking for these fine folks who don't agree with something to move off the Eastern Shore.. and are afraid of change, are a big bunch of bigots.
All of you people asking for these fine folks who don't agree with something to move off the Eastern Shore.. and are afraid of change, are a big bunch of bigots.
I think those who are saying move if you don't like it are quite lacking in thinking skills. No one should want the area saturated with more chicken houses especially those who currently have them. All it IS going to do is compete and in this case that means stagnant or lower prices for those already with contracts. It will also lower the property values of those with chicken farms because they only sell to a very limited number of buyers and more supply means less demand. For the rest of us it means the economy will remain sluggish in the area. If the current growers were to get better prices it would go back into the local economy. Why IS Marc Kilmer so worried about someone who doesn't even live here. His concern and his ONLY loyalty should be with those currently living and trying to make a living in Wicomico and not someone from N VA who will only compete with them.
The thing that the trolls are missing is that while this operation is allowed legally due to it being a zoned farm is that a new operation on the same property is not allowed to be a nuisance to previously existing homes (note that I did not say homes that are built after the new operation is in existence). Under Maryland's Right-to-Farm Statutes:
STATE OF MARYLAND Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-403: (b)(1) This section does not:
(i) Prohibit a federal, State, or local government from enforcing health, environmental, zoning, or any other applicable law;
(ii) Relieve any agricultural operation from the responsibility of complying with the terms of any applicable federal, State, and local permit required for the operation;
(iii) Relieve any agricultural operator from the responsibility to comply with any federal, State, or local health, environmental, and zoning requirement; or
(iv) Relieve any agricultural operation from liability for conducting an agricultural operation in a negligent manner.
Further, and this is critical to a lawsuit against the Pakistani owners:
(c) If an agricultural operation has been under way for a period of 1 year or more and if the operation is in compliance with applicable federal, State, and local health, environmental, zoning, and permit requirements relating to any nuisance claim and is not conducted in a negligent manner:
(1) The operation, including any noise, odors, dust, or insects from the operation, may not be deemed to be a public or private nuisance; and
(2) A private action may not be sustained on the grounds that the operation interferes or has interfered with the use or enjoyment of other property, whether public or private.
So, after the new owners have spent millions of dollars on the property and the infrastructure, there is a 1 year window for a lawsuit if there is a nuisance from their operation.
Perdue Rules!
And don't forget it.
"All of you people asking for these fine folks who don't agree with something to move off the Eastern Shore.. and are afraid of change, are a big bunch of bigots."
Well, Lisa, this particular instance is questionable, I agree. But most locals have endured the morons who move here and whine constantly about every little thing that makes this area unique. The incessant complaints about the area become a little tiresome and, yes, the question arises as to why said moron moved here in the first place and why the idiot doesn't simply return to whence he/she came. It is hardly 'bigotry' - though I'm sure you get a certain smug satisfaction from throwing that tired cliche around.
12:31 But you people need to be told to do for your own good and because though you don't, others do care about your children and their children and so on. The area has consistently and without fail gone downhill because you people are clueless. The land between the bay bridge especially the lower shore would be worth 10x what it is now if you people had a clue. Unemployment is through the roof and crime is rampant. The blight is every which way you look and out numbers the few pockets of middle class. This because you people have been brainwashed and lacked forward thinking skills. As stated above. Not anyone with even a fraction of their brain functioning could ever want this mega chicken farm to appear. It will lower the prices of chickens for current growers. Please start using your head. It's not like it's rocket science or brain surgery. Also stop exaggeration. There are NOT by anyone's stretch of the imagination "incessant complaints" about the area and if you think so, get over it. That's life and if you can't deal with it, then isolate yourself and you won't ever have to worry about "tiresome" complaints ever again.
There is a huge difference between "family farms" and corporate mega farming practices.
Nobody wants to live near a commercial chicken farm, processing plant, etc.
The fact is this is not a natural way to farm.
Producing 1 product is mono-culture farming. It is insane. Only stupid people who engage in this practice have the balls to call themselves FARMERS. Farmers they are NOT!
I hope Perdue packs up and leaves. Then what will you people do then?
The smart ones would be forever grateful 8:25. The way I see it companies like them and many others such as Walmart do nothing good and only drag communities down. It may take awhile but it does and will happen. Not only do they mostly pay poverty level wages, but they see to it through politicians that immigration policies are such that they have a steady stream of workers ready willing and able to work for the low wages guaranteeing no one will ever get a raise. These workers then are draining the welfare system and non profits to make ends meet. It trickled down to everyone in that taxes are higher and property values low because they can't afford to buy homes. It is quite foolish to think you are paying a low price for chicken, goods at Walmart, etc because the hidden costs such as the entitlements the employees receive are sky high. It's also beyond ignorant why anyone would even consider approving of these new chicken houses. When you over saturate the area with them only one thing will happen and yes, that is lower prices for those existing farmers. The most astounding part is how many lack the basic knowledge on how the economy works.
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