¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ

Atticks fielded questions and promoted the work of the department since he took the helm in February.

He was accompanied by Caroline County farmer Glen Plutschak and Maryland Farm Bureau President Wayne Stafford.

After thanking the commissioners for inviting him to their meeting, Atticks said, “My priority being here is just to let you know that this governor — this administration — is extremely interested in rural Maryland.�

Atticks discussed the results of the Nutrient Management Plan Writing Summit July 17 at Anne Arundel Community College, which attracted about 150 attendees, but prefaced his remarks with background information, acknowledging “farmers have been great stewards of their land and have been the original environmentalists.�

He said he “(loves) talking to environmental groups about that because in some cases, they’re surprised. They’ve forgotten that that’s where the whole concept came from. ... It’s never been about excess. It’s always been about conservation.�

After getting feedback from producers since he was appointed Secretary in February, Atticks said the conclusion the department reached was the “(Nutrient Management) Plan is outdated, the research is outdated and the process is outdated. We needed to reboot the system. And so, June 1, we announced that we were going to try something different.�

Plutschak spoke briefly, reminding Atticks, “Farmers are trying to do their share� to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

As owner of a Century Farm, he said while “agriculture has undergone tremendous change� since the time his father was farming, “Pop was ahead of the curve� employing environmentally sound practices.

“So one of the things we announced yesterday is a 30-member (Nutrient Management Plan) task force that will be populated … overwhelmingly (by) farmers. And we’re going to try to get someone from each of the different commodity or production groups because the plan was built for your typical Eastern Shore farmer 30 years ago, which was somebody who’s grown the same two to three crops a year on very large acreage, (but) produce farmers on 10 acres could be growing 50 things, and so we need to modernize every aspect,� Atticks said.

“I’ve yet to meet a farmer who wants to add anything more than they need to and the plan is kicking back to them analyses and recommendations of more than they actually need to apply. Well, those numbers are what we’re using to calculate our Bay goals, and that could be wrong,� he said.

Commissioner Travis Breeding thanked Atticks “for working with the university to help address some of the concerns (of) a lot of small farmers. I know it was very controversial, but I think you worked hard to address those concerns.�

Commissioner Larry Porter brought up the subject of solar arrays on farmland in the county and attempts by commissioners to “thread the needle� between land owners who feel they should control what happens on their farms, and those who till the farms whose business is affected by the loss of tillable acres. He added that obtaining funding to train first responders in emergencies involving battery storage wasn’t successful.

The subject of solar, green energy and the rights of private land owners as well as the county’s cap on solar acreage came up several times.

Atticks said the department is “very concerned about� farmland given over to solar arrays. It is “by no means a farm anymore,� he said. He added that the state is in favor of property rights as well as county rights.

Atticks said the MDA will sponsor a solar summit this fall. MDA will post updates about the summit on its Facebook page and via press releases, according to MDA Communications Director Jessica Hackett on July 24.

Also discussed were limits on cannabis growing, dispensaries and processors; “adaptive re-use� of chicken houses to grow, for instance, nutrient-dense spirulina; the level of coordination among neighboring states to combat poultry disease and limit pollutants entering the Bay; land preservation; local control of land, and increasing the number of USDA-inspected slaughter and kill processing facilities on the Eastern Shore.

Stafford brought up the federal Farm Bill and the “devastating effects on agriculture if it’s pushed off past Sept. 30,� and urged the commissioners to contact legislators to advocate for passage of the Farm Bill.

Stafford said Gov. Wes Moore “appointed a great guy� in Atticks who is “no stranger to agriculture and the Farm Bureau, and we have an open line of communication.�