The MDA’s plans include a mix of short-term and long-term proposals, including immediate changes to help more farmers participate in the Maryland Manure Transport Program, an additional $1 million in Governor Larry Hogan’s upcoming budget to help transport manure to fields where it can be best used, and long-term field science studies of soil phosphorus. The MDA is also assisting a study of whether aragonite, a high-calcium lime product, can reduce phosphorus levels in soil; working to identify state facilities that could serve as regional storage areas for litter until it is ready to be hauled to farms or alternative use facilities; exploring potential agreements to haul litter by rail to farms in Western Maryland or Midwestern states; and continuing to fund trials of alternative, energy-producing uses for chicken litter.
“To adapt to the PMT, farmers will need help in this growing season, as well as assurances that long-term solutions for phosphorus management are being explored,” Porter said. “We’re pleased that the Maryland Department of Agriculture has developed this multi-step plan for assisting livestock producers, including chicken growers, and grain farmers as we make the changes PMT implementation requires of us. It’s especially important that Maryland legislators preserve the additional $1 million being proposed for manure transport in the 2021 budget. Along with manure transportation funding contributed by chicken companies, those funds represent a cost-effective way to apply the organic, slow-release plant food that is chicken litter to grain fields while improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.”
