Delmarva’s Poultry Industry and Environmental Protection

1. Delmarva’s Poultry Industry andEnvironmental Protection Bill Satterfield Executive Director Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. November 1, 2007

2. It’s Not Necessarily Us!

3. Total Nutrient Sources Source: EPA (September 2007)

4. Delmarva Peninsula

5. Chesapeake Bay Watershed

6. Poultry and the Bay The land area of the Delmarva Peninsula counties with broiler chicken production accounts for just 7.7% of the total Chesapeake Bay watershed. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Data

8. Monitoring Nutrients “Collectively, the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the James Rivers contributed 95% of the annual Nitrogen load and about 87% of the annual Phosphorus load from the nine major rivers draining to Chesapeake Bay....” Source: USGS (November 1999)

9. Monitoring Nutrients “The Choptank River is the largest river on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, but contributes less than 1 percent of the streamflow, the total nitrogen load, and the total phosphorus load delivered annually from the nontidal part of the Chesapeake Bay Basin.” Source: USGS (November 1999)

10. Bay Contribution by River Source: USGS (November 1999)

11. Maryland Agriculture Maryland agriculture accounts for just 5% of the land use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and contributes only 7.75% of the total N loadSource: CBF Correspondence (June 2006)

12. Keep Things In Perspective Maryland’s Contribution to Total Load Entering Chesapeake Bay in 2004 Source: Maryland Department of Legislative Services (2007)

14. Pollution Control Summary Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program (April 2007)

15. Agricultural Goals – Moving in the right direction! Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program (April 2007)

16. Urban/Suburban Goals – Progress is not being made! Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program (April 2007)

17. The Problem with Population Growth “The rapid rate of population growth and related residential and commercial development has made this pollution sector the only one in the Bay watershed to still be growing, and thus ‘progress’ is negative.” Source: EPA

18. Urban/Suburban Goals – Progress is not being made! Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program (April 2007)

19. The Real Problem “Increasing human populations and the associated land-use changes continue to be the primary factors causing water quality and habitat degradation in the Bay and its watershed.” Source: USGS

20. Why Depend Upon Agriculture? “In part because they are so cost-effective, the Bay Jurisdictions are relying on future reductions from agricultural lands for more than half of the remaining nutrient reductions needed to meet restoration goals” EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program (April 2007)

21. Bay Watershed Population Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program

22. Population Trends vs.Poultry on Delmarva

23. Population Trends vs.Poultry in Maryland

24. Agriculture vs. Development Agricultural land contributes 20 to 25% less nitrogen than developed land. Bob Summers Deputy Secretary, Maryland Department of the Environment (May 2007)

25. Farm Runoff Declining “Among the major land use categories, urban and suburban lands contribute, per acre, the largest amount of nutrients to the Bay when septic and wastewater treatment plant discharges are factored in. Runoff from farms is generally declining….” Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program

26. Bay Journal, January 2007

27. Eastern Shore Contributions to Chesapeake Bay N & P Source: Bay Journal (January 2007)

28. Eastern Shore Improving None of the other watersheds; Susquehanna, Potomac, James, Western Shore, Rappahannock, York, and Patuxent, had as high a Nitrogen non-point source decline and Phosphorous non-point source decline as did Delmarva.Source: Bay Journal (January 2007)

30. Development Growth “From 1985 to 2005, EPA estimated loads from developed land sources increased up to 16% while loads from wastewater disposal and agriculture decreased.” Source: EPA (September 2007)

31. Development Growth “New development is increasing nutrient and sediment loads at rates faster than restoration efforts are reducing them.” Source: EPA (September 2007)

32. Development Growth “Little progress has been reported in reaching nutrient and sediment load reduction goals from developed lands.” Source: EPA (September 2007)

33. Development Growth “…impervious surfaces in the Bay watershed grew significantly, by 41%, in the 1990s.” Source: EPA (September 2007)

34. Poultry House Capacity Delmarva poultry house capacity grew by only 35% in the 1990s and is only slightly higher now than in 1999. Source: Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.

35. Sewer Overflow • According to the Maryland Department of the Environment website: • Combined sewer overflow = 166 million gallons • Sanitary sewer overflow = 24 million gallons • Bypasses = 17 million gallons • During the last 8 months 207 million gallons of wastewater and human waste made its way into Maryland waters!!!!

36. Restoration Progress Source: EPA-Chesapeake Bay Program

37. So, what have we been doing?

38. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Nutrient Management Plans • Eastern Shore chicken industry has more comprehensive rules than most farmers in the Bay watershed. • Thousands of Pennsylvania and Virginia farms are not required to have nutrient management plans. • Only Eastern Shore counties are 100% compliant

39. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Improved Feed Conversion • More feed used by the birds and less excreted. • Birds make better use of the feed to produce meat.

40. What’s Not Added to Chicken Feed... • No hormones are ever added to commercial chicken feed • It has been illegal to feed hormones to chickens since the 1950s!

41. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Improved Feed Conversion • More feed used by the birds and less excreted. • Birds make better use of the feed to produce meat. • 7.6% improvement in feed conversion since 1998.

42. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Fewer Nutrients Excreted ‘Between 1959 and 2001, 75% reduction in N and P excreted from broiler chickens (grams of nutrients per kg. of live weight broilers).’ -Dr. R. Angel, University of Maryland (2007)

43. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Phytase • Allows birds to better use P already present in the diet so less is excreted. • P levels in excreta has been reduced by approximately 30% in recent years. • Research continues on phytase in combination with other products for further reductions.

44. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Litter Transport • Poultry companies have voluntarily contributed more than $2 million to this effort since 1999. • More than 252,000 tons of Maryland poultry litter have been transported since 2000. • Delaware’s program has moved more than 350,000 tons since 2001.

45. Poultry Litter in Context Poultry Litter Analysis • Nitrogen = ~4-5% of the litter • Phosphorus = ~2-3% of the litter • Organic Material in litter can improve nutrient and water-holding capacity of light, sandy soils common on Delmarva.

46. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Perdue AgriRecycle • Perdue AgriRecycle accepts chicken manure from all companies’ growers without charge. • Much of this manure has been transported out of the local watersheds as a pasteurized organic fertilizer. • Fertilizer has received certification by the National Organic Standards Board.

47. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Perdue AgriRecycle • Largest litter recycling operation in the world • Since 2003, 195,800 tons of litter removed from Delmarva watersheds 8.1 million lbs. of N 4.5 million lbs. of P 6.7 million lbs. of K

48. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Perdue AgriRecycle • 44,000 tons of finished product sold in FY 2007 • 31,000 of these tons sold outside of Chesapeake Bay watershed states

49. Delmarva Poultry Industry Accomplishments Alternative Uses of Manure • Coal mine reclamation • Burning to produce energy

50. Attorney General Gansler “We have a site. We have a plan.” Baltimore Examiner October 18, 2007