Dept of Agriculture Winter Ban on Spreading Manure Begins December 16

[newsBot]

Press Release: Maryland Dept. of Agriculture

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 5, 2022)– The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds farmers that the winter ban on spreading manure and other nutrient sources on cropland, including food processing residuals (FPRs) begins December 16, 2022. Farmers may resume spreading on March 1, 2023, based on their nutrient management plan recommendations as long as fields are Read the Rest...

[ Read the rest of the article here ]

 

[Grumpy]

Press Release: Maryland Dept. of Agriculture

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 5, 2022)– The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds farmers that the winter ban on spreading manure and other nutrient sources on cropland, including food processing residuals (FPRs) begins December 16, 2022. Farmers may resume spreading on March 1, 2023, based on their nutrient management plan recommendations as long as fields are Read the Rest...

[ Read the rest of the article here ]

This seems kinda dumb to me, perhaps someone like @TPD can explain the reason for it.

 

[DaSDGuy]

Dang. I got all excited there. The title led me to believe Brandon would shut up after December 16th.

 

[TPD]

This seems kinda dumb to me, perhaps someone like @TPD can explain the reason for it.

The reasoning behind it is nutrients are more likely to run off of the fields and into the bay during the winter when there is no actively growing crop to soak the nutrients up or when the ground is frozen. Guys with animals and lots of manure run into problems when their manure pits are not large enough to hold all of the sh!t during this timeframe. The state has spent a lot of money building new manure storage facilities for farmers. If a farmer gets in a pinch, he/she can ask for permission to spread manure during this timeframe, but only after jumping through all the hoops and giving up his 1st born and last born.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

The reasoning behind it is nutrients are more likely to run off of the fields and into the bay during the winter when there is no actively growing crop to soak the nutrients up or when the ground is frozen. Guys with animals and lots of manure run into problems when their manure pits are not large enough to hold all of the sh!t during this timeframe. The state has spent a lot of money building new manure storage facilities for farmers. If a farmer gets in a pinch, he/she can ask for permission to spread manure during this timeframe, but only after jumping through all the hoops and giving up his 1st born and last born.

Well that's one way to get the kids out of the house!

 

[Monello]

CNN & MSNBC will be very disappointed.

 

[Grumpy]

The reasoning behind it is nutrients are more likely to run off of the fields and into the bay during the winter when there is no actively growing crop to soak the nutrients up or when the ground is frozen. Guys with animals and lots of manure run into problems when their manure pits are not large enough to hold all of the sh!t during this timeframe. The state has spent a lot of money building new manure storage facilities for farmers. If a farmer gets in a pinch, he/she can ask for permission to spread manure during this timeframe, but only after jumping through all the hoops and giving up his 1st born and last born.

Thank you

 

[Kyle]

Hell, I always thought manure had to geat tilled in the ground in the fall so that it would compost by spring when it got used by the crop.

 

[TPD]

Hell, I always thought manure had to geat tilled in the ground in the fall so that it would compost by spring when it got used by the crop.

Lol well here’s the thing - 40+ years ago, Maryland pushed farmers to no-till as much crop land as possible to prevent erosion. Then 25 years ago, people started looking at the nutrient load in the bay and demanding that we do something to stop that. Well with all the chickens produced in this state, we have to do something with the manure, which most of it is applied as fertilizer on the crops. So then it was decided that manure should be incorporated again, after years of telling us not to plow. But then they found out that phosphorus, which chicken litter has a lot of, attaches to the soil. So if you till the manure into the soil, that soil can then erodes into the bay with the phosphorus. However if you don’t incorporate the manure and continue to no-till, then the nitrogen from the manure can run off into the bay. So now you need to decide which is worse - phosphorus or nitrogen.

And the farmers are caught in the middle of the regulations. It is something we have been fighting for 20 years. If it were up to the environmentalists and politicians, all chickens and farmers would be outlawed in Maryland.

 

[spr1975wshs]

If it were up to the environmentalists and politicians, all chickens and farmers would be outlawed in Maryland.

I'll venture the guess that few of them realize where their food originates.

 

[DaSDGuy]

I'll venture the guess that few of them realize where their food originates.

That's easy. They get it from the store. Duh