CWAP Tsunamis: Farmers Work Hard So They Won’t Get Swept Away
FCUSA COMMENTARY, JUNE 23, 2000
(The following article first appeared in the June 2000 edition of “Fur Farm Letter”)
CWAP Tsunamis: Farmers Work Hard So They Won’t Get Swept Away
By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, FCUSA (April 1998 – May 2011)
In the May 2000 Fur Farm Letter, we looked at the Clean Water Act and the administration’s Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP). Now let’s see what farmers can do to avoid being swept away in the tsunami of information, good ideas and proposed regs, laws and dictates.
Ground-Level Manure Management
Down at ground level, some of the suggestions thrown up by an army of technocrats have real merit, and certainly we can always do more to keep our soil healthy and water pure. The University of Minnesota and its Extension Service have a variety of manure research and extension programs. Covering odor, land application, storage, composting and more, this is an excellent attempt to give hands-on help to farmers.(1)
Ohio State offers a stunningly simple explanation of a Livestock Waste Management Plan. The plan describes “systems to store, treat and transport manure; characteristics of the manure and/or wastewater; amount and topography of land available for application; methods and times of land application; crop rotations; and the condition and nutrient status of the soil.” It also provides a “documented method of operation that will prevent land-applied waste from impacting water quality.” And information needed to process a waste management plan includes discussion of waste collection, treatment and disposal; volume of waste produced; manure analysis; isolation distances; manure and soil sampling schedules; record keeping and reporting, and so on.
From Manure to Compost
The manure management plans detailed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others concentrate on methods for spreading liquid manure on fields with no mention of composting. This is odd since the EPA maintains an experimental composting program and raves about the results on its website.
Decomposed organic matter known as compost is to manure what caviar is to eggs. Composting is the biological decomposition and stabilization of organic matter under controlled conditions, performed by microorganisms which metabolize organic waste as energy. Once complete, the original organic matter is indiscernible, having been transformed into a rich, black, sweet-smelling, crumbly, soil-like substance.
Composting not only keeps organic wastes out of landfills, it also provides a wonderful tonic for your garden or vegetable patch. Nutrients stored in the decaying organic matter are held by the compost in a form that is easily absorbed by plant roots.(1)
“Composting is already an acceptable method of recycling organic wastes and is rapidly becoming a preferred alternative for stabilizing and sanitizing animal carcasses,” says EcoChem, an Alberta-based company specializing in technology for waste management and agricultural applications. The costs of running a composting system are “relatively low”, as are labor inputs. Daily labor requirements for handling 1,000 lbs per day is 30-40 minutes. “Managed properly, composting can be an odorless, disease free, environmentally friendly process that produces a value added product suitable for use in numerous fertilizer applications.” And don’t forget vermi-composting – speeding up the decomposition of organic matter through the introduction of earthworms.(2)
Watersheds on the Web
To help with the complexities of the Clean Water Act and CWAP, Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) has set conservation goals with “Core 4 Conservation goals of Better Soil, Cleaner Water, Greater Profits and Brighter Future”. CTIC is a “national, nonprofit public-private partnership working to promote soil and water quality and equip agriculture with realistic, affordable and integrated management solutions.” Learn more atwww.ctic.purdue.edu/CTIC/CTIC.html.
NOTES:
(1) See for example What is Compost and Composting?
(2) See for example Why Should I Vermicompost?
See also:
EPA Targets Cows … and You? Agency Seeks to Extend Its Authority Over Non-Point Source Pollution By FCUSA Executive Director Teresa Platt. (May 30, 2000)
Is Piglet Poisoning the Well? The Sierra Club’s Vision of Small, Tidy Hog Farms Is Sweet but Untrue By Dennis Avery, Director of Global Food Issues, Hudson Institute. From 1980-88, Avery was Senior Agricultural Analyst for the U.S. Department of State. (Direct link to the Hudson Institute.)
A Word on Water : Clean Water Act and Animal Feeding Operations By FCUSA Executive Director Teresa Platt. (April 5, 1999)
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