EPA cracks down on Amish farmers in PA
Fascinating story from the Chesapeake Bay region in the New York Times. Amish farmers, who own 50% of the farmland in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are being targeted for polluting the Bay by the way they farm:
Runoff from manure and synthetic fertilizers has polluted the Chesapeake Bay for years, reducing oxygen rates, killing fish and creating a dead zone that has persisted since the 1970s despite off-and-on cleanup efforts. But of the dozens of counties that contribute to the deadly runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus, Lancaster ranks at the top. According to E.P.A. data from 2007, the most recent available, the county generates more than 61 million pounds of manure a year. That is 20 million pounds more than the next highest county on the list of bay polluters, and more than six times that of most other counties.
Whether you’re Amish or “English”, there’s definitely a clash brewing over farming and environmental regulation.
Farmers are struggling desparately to stay in business. They bristle at any new regulation that would cost them additional money and time to implement. And most believe very strongly that they’re good stewards of the land, keeping it in production while helping to feed the nation.
Yet the laws governing synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use and concentrated manure spreading are relatively immature when compared to rules governing chemical use in some other industries. Then there’s the fact that agriculture is a major contributor to climate change.
As our society tries to keep up with the balancing act between our industrial-scale habits and their impacts on the Earth, even small farmers like the Amish will find themselves increasingly under scrutiny.
I bristle a bit at farmers who try to avoid regulation by playing the “stewards of the land” card. I’ve seen plenty of farmers that let their cows trample the earth all the way to streams, making phosphorous pollution that is worse than a big box store’s impact. True stewards understand that manure is a pollutant, and should be managed as such.
Manure can be a problem or a blessing. But, people like cheap food and the costs don;t seem to get passed on in an equitable fashion when you talk about CAF plans, etc. This issue needs more research and some fresh ideas.