FUNDS ARE NEEDED TO REDUCE RUNOFF— Programs to help farmers reduce runoff pollution are underfunded by $52 million.

MaryPIRG is reaching out to people throughout Maryland to build support for policies to reduce runoff from farms.

Excess nitrogen is widely considered to be the biggest problem facing the Chesapeake Bay. Each summer, the bay has a dead zone in which almost nothing can survive. In each of the past three years, scientists have classified more than a third of the bay as a dead zone, a direct result of nitrogen overload.

Agricultural runoff pollution is one of the biggest sources of nitrogen in the bay, but also offers the most cost-effective approaches to reducing nitrogen pollution. Many farmers want to implement advanced techniques to reduce pollution, but can’t afford them without outside funding. MaryPIRG is working to secure funds from Congress, the state budget and the chicken processing corporations that have driven the increase in chicken farming in Maryland.

In July and August, the MaryPIRG Foundation coordinated community meetings in Frederick, Bel Air, Cambridge and Prince Frederick. These meetings involved farmers and conservation leaders sitting down together to work out differences and learn from each other.

MaryPIRG Foundation staff also attended five Maryland Agricultural Commission hearings on the long-term viability of farming in Maryland. We provided input for a Commission report that will be presented at a summit in February.

In addition, MaryPIRG is working with the Agricultural Stewardship Commission, a panel of legislators that aims to develop proposals to address farmland runoff for the next session of the General Assembly.