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WOS brought up the issue of farm subsidies which kind of brought up the issue of farm conservation measures as well. It is a very complicated issue, but this year much of the Maine coastline is shut down to clam harvesting because of all the run-off from the excess water we got. Hopefully I can explain this right so that hobby farmers can see that they can make a huge difference on water quality, no matter where they live.
The problem is, with the abundant rainfall (130% for the first half of this year) Maine is having, it is affecting everyone. One of the strongest hit has been the clam diggers who have seen miles and miles of coastline closed to clamming. Typically when the lobster industry is down, the commercial fishermen and whatnot clam to make ends meet, but this year it has been a double-whammy...cheap lobster and no clamming.
Now the algae bloom called red tide located off shore runs it's own course which cannot be dealt with, but what is happening this year certainly can. That is the run off from land upstream from the clam flats. The run-off from farms, fields and lawns all runs south in Maine and you guessed it...it lands on the clam flats that bloom with bacteria making the clam flats off limits to harvesting. At an estimated $2800 in revenue per acre to the community...the collective amount of loss is mind-blowing, I mean we are talking thousands of acres in closures this year.
Well the Maine soil and water conservation districts understand this issue and are committed to it. They are focusing on the hardest hit areas and a group has formed (Time and Tide) that is banded together to help stop this flow of bacteria. Now before we start blaming the farmer on this, you must realize that the vast majority of pollution causing this bacteria bloom is from homeowners. Only 12% comes from farms. We are targeting farms with government conservation programs and its helping, but the other 70% is coming from homeowners, with the remaining from industrialization.
What happens is, for every inch of rain we get, a predicted amount of run-off occurs. With it a known amount of bacteria will also come down river so x amount of acres of clam flats are shut down to keep the food supply intact. Now this occurs no matter where you are. Even in Minnesota the water there eventually hits the coastline so it really affects everyone.
We should all ensure our septic system is properly designed, constructed and maintained. Running gray water out to daylight just does not cut it in 2009...you are hurting your neighbors literally by these practices. So is over fertilizing your lawn. If you feel compelled to fertilize, do about 75% of what the bag says as they over-state the amounts to get you to buy more product. A better approach is to soil test your lawn ($24 bucks) and then only fertilize to that limit. The same goes for gardens. Soil also carries a lot of bacteria, so if you see soil eroding on your driveway and other property...rest assured that it is contributing to clam diggers that cannot work. Stemming erosion is pretty simple, slow it down and it does not carry as much soil with it. There are numerous ways to do this and it is not overly expensive to do, but we need to get involved on the smallest of trickles.
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Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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We have been told for the last 20 years wetlands are vastly important, and that is oh so very true. They are indeed filters and do an incredible job. But here is the thing. Since the 1950's when the post war growth started creating the need for suburbanization in the middle part of the country, and a rise of powerplants energized those homes, they have been pumping heavy metals into the atmosphere. Because of the way Maine's topography is, the jet stream runs, and the way cool air mixes with warm air from the Atlantic mixing flows...these metals have been falling down on Maine for years. Just as with your cars oil filter, if you don't change it out, it plugs up, and that is exactly what has happened to our wetlands.
Right now they are still trapping sediment, but because of the heavy metals in the air, and the sediment from run-off, they are plugged up. The sediment is trapped, but the PH levels from all that acid rain is rising. That is why rivers are seeing PH levels as high as 5.2 and that is why fish are literally dying. Its just too darn acidic.
There is a high recommendation that young children and pregnant women should not eat fresh water fish because of the heavy metals and acidity in the water. I am not one to promote any kind of outlandish conspiracy theories, but its not really outlandish to understand what would happen if EVERYONE was urged not to eat fresh water fish...I mean it would cripple the recreational fishing industry and tourism. I don't think Maine's fresh water is as terrible as some locations in the USA, but I don't think it is as pristine as it looks either. PH levels cannot be seen so you cannot tell just by looking at it, neither can heavy metals gauged in parts per million (ppm).
Interestingly, for the last few decades we have had a strong ally in Maine helping to build new wetlands that helped filter out these heavy metals and improved water quality. That was the logging industry. It sounds strange, but with the thousands of miles of gravel roads they built, all those culvert crossings created vernal pools.
Vernal pools can be seen on each side of the culvert that help trap sediment and create mini-wetlands. Now I admit some sedimentation has come from logging, and some natural vernal pools were destroyed by logging equipment as they harvested wood, but far more vernal pools were created by the logging industry then they destroyed, and they were the only industry actively creating new wetlands that helped filter out the heavy metals and acid rain.
But now that these roads are pretty much built, and the logging industry as a whole is being scaled back, Maine's wetlands are pretty much at a standstill as far as growth. They are also being continuously plugged up since the heavy metals have not stopped.
So I say again small scale farmers can have a huge impact in helping to improve water quality inland, as well as along any coast. First they can contact their legislatures and let them know that the new carbon credits proposal is silly since it is a system that does not stop any heavy metals falling from industry...its only silly legislation that allows more money to change hands. The other is to reduce the sedimentation that is flowing into the their wetlands which is only plugging up the filtering effect of wetlands that much faster. The other is to protect what wetlands we do have, and if possible actually create wetlands whenever possible. If you are building a house, and need to put a driveway with a culvert, then yes you have the possibility of creating vernal pools that will help filter the water before it enters perennial streams and become acidic.
There is no need to throw up the hands, point to others and think they will help out. The opposite of NIMBIES (not in my back yard) is getting involved in your own backyard and improving water quality now. As I said before, the larger farms are forced into this due to the scope of their operations, but in many respects it is time for the hobby and small farms to start seeing the overall picture and getting involved too.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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| DB, I think you need to look at how the stats that you are quoting are gathered and presented. Statistics can be presented to reinforce any opinion. What are the land area ratios for homes as compared to farms? I have never even been close to Maine but here in Illinois the farmland must account for hugely more land area than homesites, however I think Maine is very foresty?
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Senior Member
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Oh yes, for sure. We are the most forested state in the nation at 90% forest and 10% field (and homes). Along the coast it is a bit developed and getting worse. That woodland does help the filtering affect, but it still is plugged up and the fish are dying because of it. Just this past June the Atlantic Salmon were put on the endangered species list because habitat has become so non-existent.
I still can walk along the woods and stop at a stream without fear that it is polluted, but there is a lot small landowners can do to improve soil and water quality.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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So don't be a pig..keep your land clean, and don't ask for all kinds of tax money to do it.
Here in Pa it's a 180. They told us they would give us the world if we farmers kept our land in all these programs. The reasons the state gave depended on the audience. If they were speaking to hunters, it was for the deer. If The State was speaking to tree Hugers, it was to save the timber business.
all in all it was for the vote. No farmer really wants to his his family farm whacked up into lots. An old farmer told me last night he kept farming because if he gave up, he'd probably feel suicidal.
NOW that we farmers have honest money..they want to take away all those perks and benefits. The second point, as to your fish/health point...
many people here were die'n of cancers. I'm talking church people who never had a vice. no smoking drinking nothing! They were the picture of health many want to be. eating off the farm, living right ect.
Now there lands are spewing Natural Gas.
My point,
Many of these grants are just to get your vote, and many causes are not really the cause...but since smart people tell us so, we nod like followers and take there word.
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Senior Member
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I don't think it is possible to invest in the sort of conservation measurements it takes to farm proper in 2009. A CNMP alone will run you 3K or better and that was an idea that farmers insisted on placing upon themselves. The same can be said for fish passage culverts that are incredibly expensive to install since they are custom designed and built to each crossing.
Now in your defense WOS your farm may be on old land and well developed from years of farming, but while my farm dates back to the 1600's, the development of that time was far different than what it is now. As I said before, I have areas on my woodlot that are over a mile from the nearest road, (I know I have skidded wood out that far one way to get it on the truck) so to efficiently get wood back that far I need roads and that means crossing prime fish habitat to get there.
I cannot afford a mile long road with two 30K culverts in them, and to do so "on the cheap" would cause issues with soil erosion and fish passage since I would probably install a culvert that was too small and channeled the water and forced it to go faster and erode the banks downstream. I don't want to be slogging through the stream in a skidder either, or send my sheep across it while they continuously poo.
Now I do not constantly stick my hand out and say "grease it with Government money", but I am not looking for a medal because I am a farmer and feed this great nation either. There is help out there, and rather then thump my chest and say "look what I am doing", I would rather take the government help and improve things...for me and the wildlife, water and soil.
As for the free market system...it would be nice, but that will never happen. Once the price of food reaches a certain threshold, it surpasses what consumers can afford and so the market crumbles. When that happens they start buying junk food and look what has happened to this nation...1 in 4 kids are obese. Wow and who is going to pay for that WOS? Society of course.
So overall it is in our best interest to keep the price of quality food where the general population can afford it, keep them healthy and as the market rises and falls, yeah I will take an occasional conservation grant to improve my place. Sometimes there is help available, and it is a silly farmer who does not reach out and grab it. Just be careful, when you reach out and grab anything, you might just catch a snake too. So the key here is to research, read the fine print and try to match a program to what you are trying to do in your farm plan. Trying to manipulate the farm plan to take advantage of the government subsidy is NEVER a good idea.
Eat lamb...because 50,000 coyotes CAN'T be wrong!
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