An evaluation of the Chesapeake Bay management strategy to improve water quality in small agricultural watersheds.

Chesapeake Bay water quality has been a concern since 1970. In rural areas, agriculture is the dominant N and P source, and the voluntary application of best management practices (BMPs) is the primary management tool. Here we test the hypothesis that the current management approach of primarily voluntary, untargeted BMP implementation is insufficient to create detectable, widespread reductions in N, P, and total suspended solid (TSS) concentrations in agricultural watersheds of the Choptank basin, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay. To test this hypothesis, we assessed BMP implementation and sampled water quality on participating farms, at intermediate streams within each watershed, and at watershed outlets of four watersheds from 2013 to 2014. We also present water quality data from 2003 to 2014 at the outlets of 12 additional agricultural and one forested watershed and survey-directed interviews of farmers. By the end of 2014, large numbers of BMPs, both structural and cultural, had been implemented. Of the 16 agricultural watersheds, 50% showed significant decreases in baseflow N, 37.5% showed no changes, and 12.5% showed increasing TN. Baseflow P significantly decreased at just one watershed, increased at one, and remained stable at 14. Stormflow N was similar to baseflow, but stormflow P was 5 times higher than baseflow. These data partially support our hypothesis. Surveys suggested farmers considered themselves responsible for the quality of water leaving their farms, but out-of-pocket cost was the major impediment to further BMP adoption. We suggest that greater outreach and more financial support for farmers to implement BMPs is required to increase the types and densities of BMPs needed to achieve regional water quality goals.

Trends in the Northeast dairy industry: large-scale modern confinement feeding and management-intensive grazing.

This paper provides a summary of results from a recent survey of 987 dairy farmers in 4 northeastern US states. The survey results provide descriptive characteristics of the current state of dairy farming in the region, as well as farmer satisfaction levels, concerns, and plans for the future of their farming operations. The paper analyses characteristics of two increasingly important dairy production systems used in the Northeast. Averages from across the survey states (Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont) show that approximately 13% of dairy producers use management-intensive or rotational grazing and 7% use large, modern confinement systems with more than 300 cows. These more specialized production systems show many significant differences in farm and farmer characteristics, satisfaction levels, and plans for the future compared with farms using more traditional production systems. The changing structure of the dairy industry has potentially important implications for environmental quality, rural communities, and the food system.

Differentiated dairy grazing intensity in the Northeast.

As the dairy industry in the Northeast experienced difficult economic conditions in the 1990s, grazing was increasingly viewed as an option for feeding dairy cattle. This analysis used a large sample of dairy farms randomly drawn from three states (Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia) in early 1997 to compare important aspects of the farming operations for four distinct grazing systems: continuous, traditional, moderately intensive, and intensive. Farmers who used intensive grazing tended to be younger, have more cows per acre, and have greater satisfaction with their farming operations. Logit regression results showed that more formal education and a higher debt-to-asset ratio increased the likelihood that a farmer would increase reliance on grazing in the future.