80 Pa. farms eligible for conservation grants, including Lancaster County poultry farms

• By Elizabeth Deornellas/LNP | LancasterOnline

Cleaner water and air, less odor and lower risk of avian flu transmission are among the outcomes expected from $2.5 million in environmental grant funding coming primarily to Lancaster County poultry farms.

Grant-funded conservation projects could include a wide range of nutrient management improvements, according to Brittany Smith, agriculture project manager for the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, which is a main funding source for the work. Among the possibilities are adding roofs to composting areas to ensure that farms properly compost dead birds without producing runoff, building manure storage areas, and planting trees and shrubs beside poultry houses and alongside farms’ streams.

As the states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed struggle to meet their pollution reduction targets, Lancaster County’s farmers continue to be at the center of efforts to reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus runoff that fuels harmful algae blooms and to reduce the sediment flows that impair waterways.

Planting trees and shrubs next to poultry houses increases the amount of dust and ammonia filtered out of the air, reducing air pollution and odor for farms’ neighbors, Smith said.

Vegetation next to poultry houses also reduces heating and cooling costs, providing wind breaks in the winter and shade in the summer.

Smith said planting stretches of trees and shrubs could also reduce disease transmission. Infected migrating waterfowl can spark avian flu outbreaks, and vegetation helps filter the air between streams and poultry houses, lessening the risk to farmers’ flocks.

The Alliance has pledged nearly $2.5 million toward installing conservation projects across 80 poultry farms in Pennsylvania, the majority of which are located in Lancaster County. The farms raise chickens for Perdue Farms, which has also provided some funding.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded the Alliance $1 million, and the nonprofit will pair that with nearly $1.5 million in matching funds.

Perdue Farms has invested $300,000 in a pilot program, and the Alliance hopes to raise the rest of its matching funds from state and local conservation programs sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Lancaster County Conservation District.

Wildlife and humans benefit

The conservation partnership between Perdue and the Alliance is an ongoing effort that will expand with the addition of the new grant funds. Smith said the Alliance hopes to spread its funds across as many of the 80 target farms as possible.

Starting two years ago, Fulton Township farmer Brian Eckman, who raises chickens for Perdue, began participating in a pilot program that allowed him to install a manure shed, put in spouts to reduce erosion from water runoff between the barns and plant several hundred trees.

On his 106-acre farm, Eckman houses 76,000 chickens and 3,200 pigs, grows corn and hay, and rents dairy facilities to a neighbor who bottles and delivers milk to local customers.

Eckman said the tree plantings completed in the fall of 2021 added two acres of trees to the three acres he planted back in 2017. The addition of all those trees has brought shade to the stream and barn area, provided habitat for aquatic life, and cut down on cooling costs for the chicken houses.

Deer, rabbits and squirrels are also enjoying the expanded wooded area, and Eckman said he’s happy to see an increase in wildlife on the property.

“The big thing is, with the trees and shrubs they planted, it helps keep dust down, filtrates the air and anything that really basically goes into the stream to the back,” Eckman said. “It’s kind of a win-win for everybody – the wildlife and conservation.”

Perdue targets Pa. farms

Smith said Perdue is going beyond current Pennsylvania legal requirements to bring its farms in the state up to the stricter nutrient management standards its Maryland and Virginia farms must apply.

Drew Getty, Perdue’s vice president of environmental sustainability, said pushing its Pennsylvania farms toward the conservation standards set by other Chesapeake Bay watershed states is both an environmental win and an economic opportunity.

Getty said Perdue has worked with their farmers in the state to increase their conservation work and that they’ve seen cost savings as a result.

“Working with partners like the Alliance to be able to, you know, bring those projects to fruition is something that we were very interested in doing,” Getty added.

Perdue owns the birds on its poultry farms, but farmers are responsible for managing their land, including farm buildings, equipment, and plantings.

Eckman said Perdue staff brought the Alliance program to his attention. He noted that the Alliance continues to monitor the trees, replanting when necessary.

“I’m just really impressed,” Eckman said. “The numbers were right. They gave a lot of aid to do some of these improvements.”

Conservation funds available

Eckman supplemented the money he received from the Alliance with grants from the Lancaster County Conservation District, putting $300,000 total toward his recent conservation work.

The Farm Service Agency funded his 2017 tree plantings through its Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, and Eckman encouraged other county farmers to reach out to the Farm & Home Center to get more information on the various grant programs available for conservation work.

“It just makes sense to do it. I’m seeing more and more of it, especially with some guys, with the larger livestock farms – some of these farmers really seem to be into it,” Eckman said. “I wish everyone would, you know, come on board with that.”

In total, more than $9.6 million in federal water quality grants will support 10 projects that aim to reduce nutrient and sediment flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.

Organizations that received the federal grants pledged more than $9.4 million in matching funds. Announced Oct. 16, the federal grants will support conservation work in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and New York.