El2-Boarder & Trainer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 15, 2003
Work Group Focuses On Education Of Horse Owners
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Small Scale Non-
Production Livestock Work
Group was formed in Decem
ber 2000 to address the water
quality, nutrient runoff, and
erosion concerns that can
arise from animal operations,
particularly equine operations,
when proper pasture manage
ment, manure management
and runoff controls are not
practiced.
Animal operations that
raise livestock for production
purposes (wool, meat, milk,
eggs, etc.) are subject to the
statewide Nutrient Manage
ment Act (NMA) regulations.
Equine operations, unless it
is a breeding operation, are
not currently addressed under
Pa. 4-H Leaders Recognized
(Continued from Page Eli)
At the state level, her club
members have placed first in
public speaking, team demon
stration, or individual demon
stration for many years.
Several Penn State exten
sion educators also partici
pated in the symposium. Pat
Comerford, Penn State Exten
sion Horse Specialist and
Nancy Kadwill, Montgomery
County 4-H agent, represent
Penn State on the AYHC
board of directors and partici
pated in several AYHC func
tions during the weekend.
The work group delib
erated for almost two
years to be sure the
guidelines would consid
er the care and keeping
of horses while protect
ing the environment.
The guidelines are
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the NMA, and that lead some
municipalities in Pennsylvania
to start asking for guidance
about how to handle these op
erations.
In the future, equine opera
tions are expected to be in
cluded in the NMA regula
tions, however, it is also
expected that smaller opera
tions will not be covered. To
stay current with the NMA
regulations, check out http: II
panutrientmgmt . cas . psu.e
du.
The Small Scale Non-Pro
duction Livestock Work
Group is comprised of repre
sentatives from various county
Conservation Districts, the PA
Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP), USDA Nat-
Zang, Butler County Exten
sion Director, presented a ses
sion on youth horse safety.
Zang also conducted a semi
nar on using the Survivor
Game theme for teaching
horsemanship skills, and
Nancy presented a program
on Winter Horse Camps.
Brian Egan, Penn State
Equine Extension Associate
provided information in two
sessions on equine behavior
and horse handling and train
ing.
The 2004 AYHC National
Youth Horse Leaders Sympo
sium will be held in Fort
Worth, Texas.
ural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS), the PA State
Conservation Commission,
Penn State University Cooper
ative Extension Service, the
PA Ombudsman Program,
municipal representatives,
York County Planning Com
mission, and various livestock
organizations.
The work group felt that
the majority of animal owners
who have environmental con
cerns, such as nutrient runoff,
erosion, and pasture manage
ment concerns want to “do
the right thing” but are not
aware of what to do to correct
their environmental problems
or where to go for help. The
work group felt that education
would be a more powerful and
effective way to deal with this
than more regulations would
be.
The goals and objectives of
the work group have been
two-fold. The first efforts of
the work group have been to
create statewide zoning
guidelines to give mu
nicipalities across the
state a set of guidelines
to work with when cre
ating zoning ordinances
dealing with small scale
(typically equine) opera
tions
early April,
The second goal of this
work group is to do an aggres
sive educational and outreach
campaign in Pennsylvania.
The work group is working to
greatly improve the educa
tional materials available in
Pennsylvania that show ani
mal owners what Best Man
agement Practices (BMPs) are
available to improve their cur
rent operation.
Issues such as proper pas
ture management, proper ma
nure management, water
quality concerns, eliminating
muddy areas, and composting
options are being addressed.
These are intended to improve
the health and safety of the
animals, as well as reduce the
pollution potential that some
small scale animal operations
create.
The work group also in
tends to educate the technical
staff in Pennsylvania’s agri
cultural agencies that typical
ly work with animal opera-
tions about the special issues
that may need to be addressed
when they are working with
an equine operation.
These agencies, such as
your county Conservation
District, local USDA NRCS
or local Penn State Coopera
tive Extension service person
nel are typically accustomed
to working with cattle, swine
and poultry operations. How
ever, these agencies are avail
able to assist the equine opera
tions as well.
The educational informa
tion that is being developed
through the efforts of this
work group will be available
at Ag Progress Days in Au
gust, in Rockspring. Limited
copies are currently available
by contacting Amy Skvarka at
(717) 240-5360.
For more information about
the efforts of this work group,
contact Shelly Dehoff at (717)
880-0848.