DCA Applauds Simpler Permit Process for No-Land Chicken Farms in Md.
Delmarva Chicken Association executive director Holly Porter applauded a Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) announcement that some chicken farms, including 'no-land' can now extend their nutrient management plans from three-year to five-year durations, easing the paperwork burdens on family farmers while maintaining the same conservation practices on those farms that protect water quality.
"Delmarva Chicken Association advocated for this change, and we are glad to see it implemented," Porter said. "Family-run farms producing broiler chickens must navigate multiple, complex, overlapping permitting requirements, often with little or no assistance from outside professionals or consultants. Often, nutrient management plans are unchanged from cycle to cycle, but preparing and submitting them is time-consuming work. Allowing these detailed nutrient management plans to have a five-year shelf life eases one of the many paperwork burdens on a chicken grower's to-do list, allowing them more time to focus on the animals in their care."
DCA suggested this change several years prior to submitting comments about the 2025 general discharge permit for animal feeding operations, which the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) published earlier this year after a 10-month delay.
Nutrient management plans specify how fertilizer, manure and other nutrient sources can be responsibly managed to support crop production while preventing excess nutrients from reaching local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Typically, chicken farms without crop fields on the same land as chicken houses sell their chickens' manure to grain farmers or other producers who haul it, store it, and apply it to their fields in accordance with their own, separate nutrient management plans. While chicken manure is on a no-land farm, it is under roof cover, either inside a chicken house or in a manure storage structure.
About Delmarva Chicken Association
Delmarva Chicken Association, founded in 1948, is the Delmarva chicken industry's voice as the premier membership association focusing on advocacy, education and member relations. DCA's vision is to be the most-respected chicken organization in the United States. For more information about the Delmarva Chicken Association, visit www.dcachicken.com or call 302-856-9037.