Agriculturists
Mr. Moore- Environmental Science, Hampshire High School
Thursday, April 13, 2006
AGRICULTURE Our group provides many things for
civilization. Farming provides most grocery stores with
food. Materials to make clothes are also provided.
Farmers will enact the BMPs, but must be compensated for
it. The fertilizer put on our fields goes into the
ground and is carried then to the streams when it rains.
The fertilizer causes the oxygen of the water to
decrease rapidly. That in turn causes a loss of fish,
oysters, and many habitats. The current solutions
provided by the Chesapeake Bay program would help
greatly. It would clean the water for fish, oysters, etc
and farm animals would also be able to drink the water.
It would also provide better looking water for tourists
and also for the current residents. Farmers get blamed
for most pollution. If we didn’t fertilize our fields,
no one in the world would have the food or clothing they
like or need. Farmers would like to help fix the problem
and/or come up with a better fertilizer so it doesn’t
harm so much.
Thoughtful
Questions
From:
The Amazing Chesapeake Bay
I have
read your point of view. I think that your point of view
is good. The only problem I see is that you’re not
making an actual point. It is understandable but you
need to stay on your topic. I have one question and that
would be what is your solution, not the Chesapeake Bay's
programs solution?
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The Fantastic Five
Ms. Jenkins- CATS 10, 4th period, Berkeley Springs High
School
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
To whom it may concern, As a farmer I believe that
people should take better care of the Chesapeake Bay,
because it’s a lot healthier for not only my crops but
also for the people who drink water. It is a crime to
throw trash carelessly and thoughtlessly into the bay.
Not only is the bay cluttered with trash, but it also
has been eroded, caused by weather. I believe that we
should clean out the erosion deposits; it is our
responsibility to take good care of the Earth that we
live on. That includes the Chesapeake Bay.
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Fantastic Farmers
Doc Harman- Biology, Petersburg
Monday, April 24, 2006
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Cleanup By: Tina Crites Is
there a problem with the Chesapeake Bay? Yes, there is.
The Bay is polluted by non-point pollution like nitrogen
and phosphorus and point pollution like factories and
sewage plants. Nitrogen and phosphorus enter the bay by
the watershed that reaches for 64,000 square miles. Once
in the water the chemicals act as fertilizer and set off
the algae blooms. These blooms then block the sunlight
from reaching the sea grasses and sea life, while also
depriving them of oxygen. Erosion is considered
pollution too, the eroding sediment falls into the water
and makes the water have a murky look to it. There is a
major problem with the Chesapeake Bay area, but with
sixteen million people residing in the watershed area,
everyone will have to get involved. (1) I am a farmer
living and farming in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Every day decisions can turn into enormous and countless
problems. I farm in the bay watershed area and what I do
to my farm can affect up to 64,000 square miles. I do
want to clean up the bay, but farmers are hit really
hard by this topic. Crops need fertilizer to grow better
and those crops go out to public. I do agree that there
is too much fertilizer used on fields and the fertilizer
goes into the stream by runoff (2).Of course everyone
wants to help, but no one knows where to begin. Farmers
are needed in this society, humans could not live
without farming or farming products. But one thing is
for sure we are killing the living creatures in the sea
by our decisions. There are not quick and easy ways to
restore the bay. However there are many good solutions.
I believe that covering crops is a great way of stopping
runoff from fields. Another good solution is to provide
buffer strips along your pastures and fields. This
prevents large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from
going into the stream. I think that is should be a
requirement for farmers that live in the watershed area.
I do believe that the government should provide a little
money to farmers so they can build plant buffers.
Solutions to this problem can be expensive and if a
little money was provided more people would help the
problem. After all it took many years and many people to
create this problem and now I believe that we should fix
it. Resources: 1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57380-2004Jul17_3.html
2.) http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=resources_facts_water_pollution
Thoughtful
Questions
From: KJPC
You had a lot of great
information and great suggestions, but how do
you expect to pay for the solutions? If it is
your issue, you can't expect others to pay for
it.
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Farmer's 101
Dr. Harman- Advanced Bio., Petersburg High School
Monday, April 24, 2006
In my point of view it is not the farmers faults that
the bay is polluted today because we are and have been
trying to keep pollutions out of the waters for many
years now. We have been working with our county
extension agents, and the governments to find out what
the right chemicals to use on the fields are and what we
can’t use because it might be a pollutant and don’t want
blamed for it in the long run. I have heard that we are
not the problem in the polluting of the bay because we
are far enough away that by the time the water reaches
the bay it is already naturally filtered by the rocks in
the riverbeds. I think that there are a few solutions
that I could think of like we could get all farmers to
go to a fertilize awareness meeting telling them about
when the best times and worst times to fertilize their
fields, and what to use and what not. References: Brad
Smith, Grant County Extension Agent WVU Extension
services
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BSMS farmers
Mr. Moore- 2nd block environmental science, Hampshire
High School
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Most of America relies on the food that our farms
produce. All of the unhealthy water that the farms are
creating is harmful to our animals that we live off of.
The unhealthy water is not only hurting farm profits but
it will also hurt you too. When our farms animals get
sick from drinking the unhealthy water then we lose our
profit from not being able to sell out meat. If we can’t
sell our meat, then what is America suppose to eat. Our
farm doesn’t want to have to put out a whole lot of
money into buying a fence to stop contamination of the
water. If America still wants to have meat to eat then
they are going to have to help pay for the equipment
that we need. It is not only one farm being hurt by
this, it’s everywhere. Our input is so important because
the farms of America are the basis of the meat industry.
The possible solutions not only affect us but you also.
We need everyone’s help to be able to sell America good
meat. If we don’t have good meat then the people don’t
have any to eat.
Thoughtful
Questions
From: Farmer 4
I just finished reading your pov and I agree that
there is a problem with the Bay; perhaps you could
give some background information as to where the
pollutants came from and some solutions, you say
there is a problem but you don’t give any
suggestions on how to solve it. Also farms don’t
just produce meat, perhaps you should look at some
other types of farming and give some information on
them as well.
From: Fanastic Farmers
I just read your POV.I thought that you had some
interesting points. You mentioned that meat is a
great source of food for Americans, however you
didn't give any solutions on how to keep it healthy.
I understand your point, but farming isn't all about
livestock. There is produce too. Run-off from crop
fields also lead to pollution. I think that you
should consider factors other than livestock.
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Hampshire Hay Makers
Mr. Moore- 1st Block, Hampshire High School
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Problem: The problem is that fertilizer is getting into
the water and killing all of the fish and anything that
is in the water. POV: The government is forcing farmers
to change their farms by re-fencing many of their
streams and rivers so the cows and other agricultural
animals stay out of the rivers and streams. To keep
sediment and fertilizer out of the river so it does not
kill the oysters and fish in the Chesapeake Bay. Over
many years the farmers will spend countless amounts of
money and time rebuilding fence and reconstruction their
property. We the people of Agricultural Community hold
these truths that we feed the American population. We
the people of the agriculture community will lose a
great deal of money therefore driving the prices of the
produce sky high. There should also be National
Standards but it should be very limited and try to help
the farmers as much as possible. The government should
help farmers in financing the reconstruction projects in
maintain streams and the water qualities.
Thoughtful
Questions
From: Fantastic Farmers
I
enjoyed reading you POV. I thought that you had a
few interesting points. However, I thought that you
stressed the money situation a little too much.
Money isn't the only problem with the bay. We, the
people that live in the watershed area, need to find
real solutions to this problem. Money shouldn't be
your number one priority with the bay.
From: Petersburg Farm Boy
In
my opinion you wrote an interesting article, but I
think that the fertilizers are not the major
problem. I think the government should pay to teach
the farmers when to put fertilizers on their fields
and how much at a time.
From: Farmer 4
I
had an interesting time reading your pov. It was
different. Perhaps you should look at the fact that
fertilizer isn’t the only pollutant in the Bay. The
fertilizer isn’t killing everything it is actually
acting as a “fertilizer” to the algae, among other
things, which are harmful to the inhabitants of the
Bay. Also you will have to spend money rebuilding
your fences anyway, so why does it matter where they
are located, on this side of the river or the other.
Money isn’t everything, especially if it is the
farmer’s responsibility to feed the American people,
as you state.
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Farmer 4
Dr. Harman- Biology, Petersburg High School
Monday, April 24, 2006
Brandi Eskew I am a farmer and I believe that the
Chesapeake Bay pollution problem is not one that will be
easily resolved. The Chesapeake Bay pollution problem is
caused by many factors, some of the most significant of
these include: 1. Low dissolved oxygen levels in the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as a direct result of
nutrient pollution, principally nitrogen. Nutrients from
sewage treatment plants, agricultural runoff and other
sources enter the Bay and stimulate population
explosions, or “blooms,” of microscopic plants called
phytoplankton, or simply “algae.” When these algae die
they sink to the bottom, the decomposition process
removes oxygen from the water.(1) 2. Another cause is
sediment, a natural component of the Bay’s ecosystem,
but in excessive amounts creates harmful conditions for
the Bay’s plants and animals, this is one of the
problems that will be very difficult and expensive to
correct, the major cause of this problem is that during
periods of rain or melting snow, soil and other
particles flow off the land and into waterways. Soil
erosion caused by wave action along shorelines also
contributes to sediment in the Bay, and to a lesser
degree, wind, ice floes and water currents add to the
amount of sediment.(2) 3. Up to 70% of the pollution
degrading our streams, rivers, and the Bay comes from
runoff from agricultural and developed land. In an
effort to reduce pollution from these sources, we could
implement an exhaustive laundry list of agricultural and
urban best management practices such as forested
buffers, nutrient management plans, wetland mitigation,
growth management, yield reserve, and manure to energy
initiatives.(3) Some of the solutions to this problem
include significantly reducing pollution from wastewater
treatment plants by limiting the amount of nitrogen that
a sewage treatment plant should be allowed to
discharge.(3). As a farmer I could use some or all of
the following methods to help reduce pollution caused by
farmers; cover crops which reduce erosion and the
leaching of nutrients to groundwater by maintaining a
vegetative cover over cropland; enhanced nutrient
management, “yield reserve”, or a reduction of nitrogen
applied to cropland, conservation tillage which is
planting and growing crops with minimal disturbance of
surface soil; forest or riparian buffers which are
wooded areas along rivers, streams, and shorelines that
help filter nutrients, sediments, and other pollutants
from runoff. There are numerous solutions to this
problem each of which needs to be examined carefully to
identify the positive and negative aspects, also to
determine whether or not the percentage of pollutants
that the particular option will remove is significant
enough to offset the cost. Fundraisers, if possible,
should pay for these solutions and the government should
pay for the rest. These fundraiser could be anything
from having a fishing day at chosen locations and having
the participants pay for the fish that they keep, to
having concerned citizens make donations. Also you could
take a different approach and charge a $0.10 tax on
every pound of fish sold that comes from the Bay. These
are just a few of the possible solutions to the
Chesapeake Bay pollution problem. References 1. http://www.cbf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=resources_facts_deadzone
2. http://www.chesapeakebay.net/info/sediment.cfm 3.
http://www.cbf.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10465
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Farmer Jon
Doc. Harman- Ad. Biology, Petersburg High
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
I’m a farmer that is concerned with condition of the
Chesapeake Bay. My own farm practices hurt the
condition. The fertilizer I use on my crops has
chemicals in it to make my crops grow bigger. This has
the same condition in the Chesapeake Bay when my
fertilizer drains off into the rivers. The fertilizer
causes the plants to go too big too rapidly causing less
oxygen for animals and less sunlight from the algae for
the plants on the bottom of the Bay. My cattle have the
same effect as well. I don’t have the equipment to water
all of my cattle unless I allow them to roam freely into
the river for water. The chemicals in their manure have
the same effect as fertilizer to the plants in the
Chesapeake Bay. There are a few different options to fix
these problems. There are a couple of different
alternatives we could do for each. I could lower the
amount of fertilizer I put on my crops. Another plan is
I could place a buffer zone of grass between my crops
and the river. There’s smarter ways to water your cattle
too. I could hook a hose to a river/dependable water
source and have it go into a large water trough for my
live stock to come up to and drink. A different
alternative is to use more ponds. The pond water will
not flow into the rivers. These ideas would cost money
but if the government wants to clean up its rivers these
would be very useful ideas.
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