Regulation of Fertilizer Proposed During Talks Sat, Aug 3, 2002 Removing Poultry-Litter Options Prompts Discussion Of Commercial-Fertilizer Use

By Scott F. Davis

The Morning News/NWAonline.net . sdavis@nwaonline.net

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas officials have proposed regulating the use of commercial fertilizer in Arkansas and Oklahoma as part of a comprehensive strategy for improving water quality by reducing nutrients.

The regulation of fertilizer would likely hurt sales at local farm stores and require unwelcome, additional paperwork for farmers, a Fayetteville farm-store manager said. Also, an increasing amount of fertilizer sales during the past several year are to lawn-care companies and city residents, he said.

Regulating fertilizer, as well as the land-application of poultry litter, were topics of discussion this week in Fayetteville during high-level, behind-closed-door talks among Arkansas and Oklahoma state-agency officials and representatives of poultry companies.

Arkansas officials earlier proposed requiring the registration of poultry growers and licensing of those who apply litter to the land, and the development of nutrient-management plans for farmers within sensitive watersheds. These watersheds have not been defined, but are expected to include the watersheds of the Illinois and White rivers, said Randy Young, the director of the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

The developing strategy for reducing the amount of nutrients from sensitive watersheds includes removing nutrients from the region, possibly as pelletized fertilizer or as ash that remains after the litter has been burned to produce energy.

Arkansas poultry and state officials are asking the same question: "If we ship litter out of the basin, how do we assure that folks don't just replace it with commercial fertilizer?"

"In those sensitive watersheds, if a management plan for poultry litter is required, then the application of commercial fertilizer should be (included in nutrient-management plans)," said Earl Smith, the chief of the water-resources management division of the commission. "If what we are concerned with are nutrients, we need to look at all of the ways nutrients get into the streams."

Oklahoma officials say they do not have any details of the Arkansas proposal and that there is no mechanism in place in Oklahoma to regulate commercial fertilizer, but the idea may be worth considering. The proposal is in the "early stage," officials said.

"Since the river cares not the source of nutrients, this seems like something worthy of consideration. Of course, there are currently no mechanisms in place to look at commercial fertilizer, but it is reasonable," said Derek Smithee, the chief of water standards for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.

J.D. Strong, the director of environmental affairs for the Oklahoma secretary of the environment, said Young mentioned the idea at an earlier meeting and brought it up again Wednesday. Oklahoma officials will research the matter to decide if the legislature has given this authority to the agencies or if new legislation will be required.

Strong said that the proposal will likely be unpopular in the agricultural communities in both states. Commercial fertilizer is a source of nutrients that affects water quality, but Strong said he is unsure it is significant compared to other sources.

Research scientists believe that commercial fertilizer has more impact on water quality than organic fertilizer, such as poultry litter, because it contains more water-soluble nutrients that are more likely to be dissolved by rain and washed into streams by rain.

Jerald Southern, the manager of the Farmers Cooperative in Fayetteville, said that commercial-fertilizer sales are an important part of his business, especially during the spring. In April, fertilizer sales accounted for 25 percent of total sales, he said.

"That's what we live on," he said.

The co-op mainly sells fertilizer to farmers, but a growing portion of its sales are to lawncare and maintenance companies and city residents, he said.

Oklahoma has adopted an in-stream, numeric standard on phosphorus of 0.037 parts per million for its scenic rivers, including the Illinois. Led by Gov. Mike Huckabee, Arkansas officials have called this limit unrealistic and unattainable.

High levels of phosphorus promote excessive algae growth, reduce oxygen levels in waterways and crowd out some types of aquatic life. A 1992Supreme Court ruling found that an upstream state can be required to meet at the state line the water-quality standards of a downstream state.