Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jeff Sanders, an agronomy outreach professional at UVM Extension with 25 years of experience in the dairy industry. Jeff works with small, medium and large agri-businesses to educate, demonstrate and trial innovative practices on farms which improve water quality. He also assists the Farmers Watershed Alliance to help farmers tackle water quality issues involving construction projects on their farms. Jeff also operates a small farm of his own.
[O]ne of the most important Vermont issues in the spotlight over the past five years has been water quality. New EPA total maximum daily loads rules and state of Vermont implementation plans are being implemented now.
It is clear that farmers have an important part to play in any significant cleanup to the lake. This is reflected in the strong language of Act 64 which was signed into law in June of 2015 ushering in a new era of environmental regulation across all segments of the Vermont community using an “all in” approach to attempt to solve the issues in Lake Champlain. The standard set for the farming community is alarmingly high.
Moving forward more flexibility and innovation will be needed on the financial side in the government if the goals set in Act 64 are to be met. To achieve this flexibility, efforts to increase direct access to funding for farmers and innovative ideas like tax credits and bridge loans need to be explored and implemented.
If a project will provide you with no return on investment it is difficult to dedicate precious financial resources towards it if you are under financial stress. Another may be that in order to take advantage of funds for a particular project you will be required to do much more than what is in that scope of work due to grant requirements and there is no guarantee of financial assistance with the other requirements.
The solution to the water quality issues associated with agriculture in Vermont will be found in the fields, on the farms and through the relationships forged by farmers and the people that have the opportunity to assist them as they strive to remain financially viable, environmentally responsible, and leaders in their respective communities.
So what are farmers doing in the quest to solve Vermont’s water quality issues? More than you might think.
Farmers around the state of Vermont have established a decent track record of work in the areas identified by water quality experts in terms of implementing practices that improve water quality, including field-based, farmstead-based and education-based practices.
Field-based practices also called agronomic practices include reduced tillage or no-till planting of row crops to reduce risk of erosion; planting of cover crops to armor the soil surface, build soil health and reduce risk of nutrient leaching, installing of grassed waterways, and buffers in areas of high risk of erosion or runoff exist. Vermont farmers have expanded their implementation of these practices from a couple thousand acres statewide to many thousands of acres statewide. Cover cropping has expanded from several thousand to over 30,000 acres in just five years, and many farmers now have no-till corn planting equipment to reduce the amount of tillage needed to plant crops. Several farmers have purchased no-till grain drills and many more rent drills from UVM Extension or other organizations to avoid tilling land when seeding grass crops. Farmers are working towards meeting the buffer requirements along streams and more are being installed every year. This year alone in Franklin County at least six grassed waterways were installed to reduce erosion from fields. Farmers are also seeding down corn fields and putting their fields into conservation crop rotations to build soil health and reduce risk. It must be remembered that farms need these fields to earn their income and trying practices which have failed in the past is a risk which can translate into very expensive lessons if things go wrong.
Farmstead-based practices have been going on in earnest for over 20 years. Practices like certification of manure storage facilities, clean water diversions, leachate systems and heavy use area improvements are examples. Clean water diversions and improved heavy use areas are common on many of the medium and large farms and Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets and others are working to help smaller farms install these practices which are proving more difficult due to the lack of capital.
Many farmers are very engaged with learning about new ways to meet the requirements that are being enforced on their businesses. Farmers are taking nutrient management planning trainings provided by Vermont Association of Conservation Districts and National Resources Conservation Service through UVM Extension. Many farmers attend field days and workshops to learn about what their neighbors are doing and how to take advantage of opportunities to address water quality issues on their own farms. Farmers are very good at figuring out what will work for them and these educational opportunities help them see applied practices in the field to evaluate if they could adopt them.
The solution to the issues with water quality in Vermont may be an “all in” approach but it will not be a “one size fits all” approach. The solution to the issues with water quality in Vermont will not be found on a permit. The solution to the water quality issues associated with agriculture in Vermont will be found in the fields, on the farms and through the relationships forged by farmers and the people that have the opportunity to assist them as they strive to remain financially viable, environmentally responsible, and leaders in their respective communities. The solution to the water quality issues will be found in farmers having the flexibility to apply current paradigms in the world of water quality as they see fit in their operations. As long as risk is being reduced and improvements are being documented we are on the road to success.
