Fayette has proposed a ban on spreading chicken manure on farmland.
FAYETTE – A state agriculture official told residents Tuesday night that the town’s proposed ban on spreading chicken manure on farmland is unnecessary and unenforceable.
Peter Mosher, director of the Office of Agriculture, Natural and Rural Resources, addressed nearly 60 people at a public hearing at Starling Grange Hall. The proposed ordinance prohibiting use of hen manure for fertilizing farmland was drafted, in part, because of the odor and the potential for runoff into wells and streams.
Farmers who chose to use chicken manure would be required to notify neighbors, provide full “risk assessment data” to the town and possibly hold a public hearing. All of this could have severe financial implications for the farmers.
“It’s a solution looking for a problem,” said Berndt Graf, the only dairy farmer left in town.
Mosher said the ordinance would prevent farmers from following the 1981 Right to Farm law, which recommends farmers follow best farm management practices.
“As written, if this article were to pass, there would be no effective way of enforcing it,” Mosher said.
He pointed out that his department has never had to pursue an agriculture problem like this one.
“We’ve never been to this point before,” said Mosher. In all other cases, the problem was resolved before it ever reached a town hearing.
Townspeople agreed that part of the problem, in this case, is a lack of information about specific state guidelines and lack of communication between neighbors.
“We’re here as problem solvers,” Mosher said.
He said there is a need for nutrient management plans for most farmers. Any farmer who spreads more than 100 tons of manure is required to have a nutrient management plan and is also protected under the Right to Farm law.
He reiterated, and the majority of the crowd agreed, that there is already a good policy and effective program in place.
“If we lose these farms in the future, because of this ordinance, we won’t have the Fayette we moved to in the first place,” Graf said.
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