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Poll Indicates Overwhelming Support in Farm Communities for Stopping Disposal of Leftover Manure in Winter Months

By a margin of 24 points, Eastern Shore voters support the proposal.

In Southern Maryland, the margin is 20 points.

Maryland regulators seeking to curb the amount of chicken and cow manure entering rivers and the Chesapeake Bay have the overwhelming support of registered voters, a recent poll finds.

By 66 percent to 21 percent -- or nearly three to one -- Marylanders want officials to take steps to stop the disposal of leftover manure in farm fields in fall and winter in order to lessen contamination of the Bay. Only 12% were strongly opposed.

Agriculture continues to be the largest source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay, with manure contributing approximately half of the pollution that comes from Maryland farms.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has recently proposed regulations restricting the use of manure and sludge in farm fields in the winter; requiring the planting of cover crops; and preventing livestock from defecating in streams. A joint legislative committee could vote as early this week on whether to support the department’s proposed changes.

The state’s environmental groups argue for the joint legislative committee (the committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review (AELR)) to support the regulations. In a letter signed by more than 20 organizations on July 3, the authors said the Department’s proposed regulations are a step forward but that eight essential additional actions are necessary to better manage and reduce farm pollution.

Among the changes, the groups say the winter prohibition of applying manure on crops should begin November 1 for all Maryland counties, and not November 15 for counties west of the Chesapeake Bay, as proposed by MDA. The groups also say the ban should be effective 2014, two years ahead of MDA’s proposed date of 2016.

The poll found that even in rural counties, voters support the ban on winter application of manure. By a margin of 24 points, Eastern Shore voters support this proposal, and in Southern Maryland the margin is 20 points.

“The rural numbers are remarkably consistent, whether on the Eastern Shore or in Southern Maryland,” said Steve Raabe, president and founder of OpinionWorks, which conducted the poll. “Though the opposition to this proposal is predictably greater in those areas, a solid majority remains in support.”

Raabe said the poll has a potential sampling error of no more than 4.0% at a 95% confidence level, meaning the survey results would differ by no more than that margin at least 95% of the time if every registered voter in Maryland had been interviewed. Interviewees were drawn randomly from the database of registered voters provided by the Maryland State Board of Elections and matched with telephone numbers by a commercial vendor.

The sample was balanced regionally and by political party, and screened to ensure participation by only registered voters.