Council pledges to coordinate nutrient certification programs The Executive Council signed a directive at its Oct. 14 meeting that will make it easier for private agricultural consultants to help farmers develop nutrient management plans throughout the Bay region. The directive commits Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland to develop reciprocal agreements for their nutrient management certification programs. Certification programs set standards for private consultants who write nutrient management plans for farmers. The reciprocal agreement will mean that once certified, a professional will be able to develop plans for farmers throughout the Bay region. Nutrient management plans are considered the cornerstone of nutrient reduction efforts being undertaken on farms throughout the Bay watershed as part of an effort to reduce the amounts of nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay by 40 percent.
Agriculture is one of the major contributors of nutrients to the Bay.
One goal of the reciprocal agreement is to make sure enough qualified consultants are available to meet the demand for plans from farmers. Testing and analysis of soils, wastes, and plants are used to determine the optimum amount of nutrients that should be placed on a field in order to minimize the potential for excess fertilizers to leave the field and enter waterways or ground water. As its name implies, total resource management involves looking at all resources, and pollution sources, and managing them together. If reciprocal agreements can be developed to support these other components of total resource management, it could greatly increase private sector involvement in environmental planning related to agriculture.