Nutrient Management Plans Lower
Fertilizer Cost And Prevent Water Pollution
Marty Heatherington writes and approves nu
trient management plans as part of her responsi
bilities t't Chesapeake Bay Technician for the
Schuylkill Conservation District. Currently Heath
erington wot ks with 40 farmers who have Chesa
peake Bay contracts and are required to have
nutrient management plans implemented on their
farms.
JAYNE SEBRIGHT
Lancaster Farming Staff
POTTSVILLE (Schuylkill Co.) Writing nutrient man
agement plans allows Marty Heatherington to help farmers
keep clean water clean. As the Chesapeake Bay Coordinator
for the Schuylkill Conservation District, it’s Heathering
ton’s job to help farmers develop best management practices
on their farms.
“I provide nutrient management information and help
them with the technical and administration work,” said
Heatherington. “We work with the farmers to determine
what Best Management Practices (BMPs) he wants to install
on his farm.”
Nutrient Management Plans A Must
In order to receive funding through the Chesapeake Bay
program, farmers are required to have nutrient manage
ment plan. Heatherington is certified to write and approve
these plans. However, the larger operations, defined as
CAFOs, must hire private consultants to write their plans.
“I will write plans for any farmer who is in the Bay pro
gram,” said Heatherington. “And I encourage other farm
ers to work with private consultants.”
According to Heatherington, most farmers start out being
apprehensive about working with the government. But
when they see the benefits that their neighbor is getting out
the program, they’re more willing to get involved with the
Chesapeake Bay program.
“The word of mouth is probably my best seller for new cli
ents,” said Heatherington. “Once they see their neighbor
putting up a new manure storage facility, they’ll call me
about the program.”
Manure Storage Hot Ticket Item
When Heatherington first meets with the farmer to de
velop a nutrient management plan and enroll them in the
Chesapeake Bay program, she works with them to deter
mine what will work best on their operation.
“Manure storage systems are the big ticket item that we
install,” said Heatherington. “But we also install diversions
around barns, roof gutters, and other nutrient management
tools.”
As part of the Chesapeake Bay program, Heatherington
helps the farmers develop Ag Waste Storage Plans on their
farm. Part of that plan includes conservation plans for crop
lands and a nutrient management plan for the animal oper
ation.
Nutrient Management Benefits The Farmer
“My best salespeople are the other farmers,” said Heath
erington. “For farmers it is all about the economics.”
When Heatherington develops a plan for a farmer, she
shows him how much money he can save by using less ferti
lizer and managing his on-farm nutrients better. For most
farmers, manure is considered a waste product. But most
plans that Heatherington writes include savings in the side
dressing.
“When I add up my calculations, I go back to the farmer
and show him that he doesn’t need as much side dressing,”
said Heatherington.
Usually the farmers don’t believe Heatherington. So she
challenges them to use two different fields and put normal
amounts of fertilizer on one field and cut back on the other
field.
“When we do a yield check, there is no difference in the
yields,” said Heatherington. “I don’t expect them to take
my word for it. I get them to see it for themselves.”
NMP Needs More Funding
Heatherington is fortunate in her county to have so many
farmers interested in developing nutrient management
plans. Unfortunately, only half of the farmers are located in
the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The other farmers do not
have funding available to develop their plans.
“And money is getting tighter in the Chesapeake Bay
program,” said Heatherington. “We’re competing with
more and more counties, and the program seems to be losing
money.”
Currently Heatherington has 40 farms contracted with
the Chesapeake Bay program. However, she would like to
offer the farmers outside the Bay watershed the same op
portunities.
“We’re hoping to get funding through the Growing
Greener fund,” said Heatherington. “Schuylkill has submit
ted the highest number of proposals for Growing Greener
projects in Pennsylvania. However, none of the ag projects
received any monies.”