Maryland's approach has been to urge farmers to voluntarily use conservation practices and, as an incentive, to pay them for taking certain steps. The successes - and limits - of this approach are evident on John Hammer's 362-acre farm in Greensboro.
From a scientist's perspective, Hammer is doing a lot right. He doesn't till his soil. He's planted a grass strip between his chicken houses to absorb runoff, as well as a tree buffer to protect the river. He pays a consultant to help write a "nutrient management plan" to calibrate just how much fertilizer he will need. He says he follows the plan to the letter.
Despite the care he takes, Hammer, like many farmers these days, is depending more on chicken manure to fertilize his beans and corn. He gets the manure for free from the chickens he raises, making it far cheaper than buying fertilizer.
Manure has a hidden cost, however. It is loaded with phosphorus, a chemical that has proved toxic to bay life. To get the nitrogen they need from the manure, farmers end up applying more phosphorus than the soil can ever absorb.
Less pollution would run off Hammer's fields if he planted cover crops - crops intended solely for the purpose of absorbing nutrients left in a field after the cash crop is harvested. But Hammer says he needs to keep his fields planted with a fertilized cash crop, green beans. A state program would reimburse him for part of the cost of planting cover; it would not compensate for lost profit.
This year, the state will pay farmers $18 million to plant cover crops - more than three times what it spent two years ago. The extra money is meant both to reach more farmers and to pay them more.
Some environmental groups say more money is not enough. They say the state needs a tough new law on nutrient management plans, enforced by the Maryland Department of the Environment instead of the farm-friendly agriculture department, to force farmers to limit fertilizer use. Environmental inspectors could visit a farm, test the soil, and determine if a farmer was applying more phosphorus than his plan dictated. That way, they could force a farmer to get in compliance and issue stiff fines if he didn't.
But farmers, who often teeter on the edge of profitability, say they need flexibility to manage their land. Many have threatened to sell to developers if tough new mandates come to pass.
Winegrad, at least, is willing to take that chance.
