Environmental Standards Are Serious Business
Bashing the environmental stewardship of large farms seems to take on the fervor of a national sport for many people who hold the view that so-called “factory farms” don’t really care about our natural resources. The truth is, farmers have been adjusting their practices for the past several decades through the same forces that have bought about improved environmental standards in the rest of society, including municipalities and industrial firms. In New York State, a blend of carrot and stick policies motivates farmers to help improve the environment.
The control of possible pollutants into the environment is regulated under the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit for farms that are defined as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). For dairy farms, a large CAFO farm has700 or more cows and a medium CAFO farm has 200 to 699 cows. There are over 145 large CAFO farms and 475 medium CAFO farms in New York.
In order for a large farm to meet DEC regulations and avoid penalties that can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars, it must have a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan on file with the DEC. These plans tell the DEC how the farm will control or store nutrients such as manure, barn-yard runoff, milk house waste water, the leachate from corn silage or haylage, the disposal of dead animals and the discharge of pesticides. Farms must have facilities that prevent the overflow of these nutrients from a 25-year, 24-hour rainfall event.
Complete with extensive farmstead and field maps, these plans contain all drainage flows from ditches, culverts and underground pipes, including the runoff from barn roofs, driveways and livestock exercise lots. Farmers must maintain records indicating they have checked for leaks from underground pipes, maintain accurate rainfall records and check the levels in manure and seepage storage every day. These records need to be retained for five years. Farms must also tell the DEC about their emergency action plans in the event of a failure in their containment facility.
Regulations also require dairy producers to develop a plan on how manure will be spread on fields during the year. Based on the soil type and slope of the field, only permitted amounts of manure can be applied. Records on weather conditions at the time of manure application must be maintained. Each farm must have one individual that has attended a DEC training on manure application every other year. Farmers must know how to or hire specialists who can help them calibrate their manure spreaders so that accurate application rates can be maintained. Along with this, farms must have their manure analyzed at least once a year for nitrogen and phosphorus.
Before a farm can build a new barn or other farm structure, it must have plans from a licensed professional engineer showing that the new facility meets current CAFO standards. Farmers must also hire certified farmstead planners to produce an annual compliance report stating that they are meeting the above requirements. The DEC is required to inspect large CAFO farms on an annual basis to make sure they are meeting all of the discharge regulations.
Given the technical nature of these requirements, there are individuals and firms that specialize in helping farmers develop these plans and make independent inspections to ensure compliance and provide advice on how to improve environmental stewardship of the farm operation.
