Community | June 13, 2010 | 20 comments

Federal Government Scrutinizes Amish Farming

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/science/earth/09amish.html

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ibrake4rappers13
With simplicity as their credo, Amish farmers consume so little that some might consider them model environmental citizens

We are supposed to be stewards of the land,” said Matthew Stoltzfus, a 34-year-old dairy farmer and father of seven whose family, like many other Amish, shuns cars in favor of horse and buggy and lives without electricity. “It is our Christian duty.”

But farmers like Mr. Stoltzfus are facing growing scrutiny for agricultural practices that the federal government sees as environmentally destructive. Their cows generate heaps of manure that easily washes into streams and flows onward into the Chesapeake Bay.

And the Environmental Protection Agency, charged by President Obama with restoring the bay to health, is determined to crack down. The farmers have a choice: change the way they farm or face stiff penalties.

“There’s much, much work that needs to be done, and I don’t think the full community understands,” said David McGuigan, the E.P.A. official leading an effort by the agency to change farming practices here in Lancaster County.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/science/earth/09amish.html
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20 comments // Federal Government Scrutinizes Amish Farming

  • dariusvons
    • 0
      dariusvons  

    • I love the amish! we have them here where I live, though far fewer than back east, and most are conused with mormons around here.... I've long thought it would be nice to embrace much of their philosophies, and even much from their way of life. they have a good thing going for them. I'd like to join, but then I'd have to fake a faith that I find insulting and belittling to human decency, and I'd have to learn dutch... no thanks.

    • 1 year ago
  • jubal
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  
    • jubal:

      I looked up Amana Colonies. I found some info, but nothing related to cows, just refridgerators:))
      Well, not just that, but I didn't find anything on farming, just tourism.

    • 1 year ago
  • RosesBrookePottery
    • 0
      RosesBrookePottery  

    • Every other dairy farmer in the United States has to adhere to safe manure handling practices regulated by the government, why shouldn't Amish farmers too?? Just because of their religion, they should not be allowed to pollute the water. 100 years ago, there were farms much more spread out, with much fewer cows, thus much less waste. Now Amish farms are some of the largest. They have many hands and low overhead. Here in Upstate NY the NYC Watershed, and every other Soil and Water District actually pays for proper manure systems to be put in every dairy farm. If any other religion that used electricity was polluting the water in any way, they would have to comply with the government regulations for safety, but because they use candles and outhouses they are exempt? I don't get it.

    • 1 year ago
  • tommytripper
    • +1
      tommytripper  
    • RosesBrookePottery:

      now i can not comment on these exact farms... but i have been on other Amish farms in my area.

      they are way cleaner then the Cargill food processing plant or the Cargill employed farmers. also in my area... if you want to see and smell bad animal care/post care and environmental care look at corporations like Cargill.

      i would question the integrity of the EPA, and whom ever is bringing this issue up. way before i condemned Amish farmers,

      most of these animal waste piles are mixed with straw and allowed to degrade into compost and then used to restore crop fields. They generally use pigs to help speed up the composting process.

    • 1 year ago
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  
    • tommytripper:

      I have no doubt they are way cleaner than industrialized farms. And I'm sure they smell a lot better.
      However, if there is excessive run-off from manure piles, into streams or other waterways, it could prove to be a problem, because there is already so much water and ground water pollution from farming in concentrated areas.
      I won't say I necessarily smell a rat, but it still would not surprise me if some conglomerate like Monsanto quietly began the regulation process because they have no control over the Amish.
      Or why would this "all of a sudden" be happening? Why weren't the Amish regulated when every other farmer was?

    • 1 year ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • Dagum
  • montesooma
  • littlwarrior
    • 0
      littlwarrior  

    • Well poo is bad for the water, but i say the feds must be very careful to protect the amish way of life while trying to protect the water, these people have like what negative carbon emisions? and you have to respect how hard they work to surivive.

    • 1 year ago
  • Omnomynous
    • 0
      Omnomynous  

    • I've got to respect the Amish, no there not perfect and a little weird by most standards but their culture is pretty cool...

      If they could only support better living through chemistry, and cut down on their meat intake.... I'd convert...

    • 1 year ago
  • Dagum
  • Incredulous
    • +2
      Incredulous  

    • WTF? The Federal government virtually paved the way for BP to create what might be the worst environmental disaster ever, but they are going to regulate Amish farmers?

    • 1 year ago
  • 2hellnwait
  • bailey78
  • nursediesel
    • +5
      nursediesel  

    • Of course the government can't stand having no monetary hold over these simple living people. It means they have no control over their behavior by withholding government money. Why would they need to take government collected money to build ditches? I can understand the need for money for fencing to keep the animals away from streams but I hope they don't give in to that monster. Governments eat people.

    • 1 year ago
  • montesooma
  • csmonut
    • +3
      csmonut  

    • A few years ago I worked with a person doing a study of the drainage ditches in California, next to dairy farms.
      We would head out at first light and spend the morning taking water samples from all sorts of places. At the lab we would run studies for phosphorus, nitrates, etc. It was bad, to say the least. Pesticides, herbicides, you name it.
      In CA, dairies are not allowed to drain their excess water run-off from the cows, into the drainage ditches, but they do. Some going to a lot of trouble, like burying pipe below the bottom of the ditch, then turning on a pump, and watching to make sure no one comes along a grabs water samples, as we were doing.
      The pollution could not be totally put off to dairies, though. The drainage ditches are called that for a reason.
      If the Amish farmers need to manage their dairies more efficiently so runoff is minimized, then I can see the need to regulate them.
      I don't know much about their farming practices, but do they use hormones and anti-biotics like other conventional dairies?
      Do they use all of the poisons on their land like other conventional farmers? And...no-till farming practices have shown to be very beneficial to the land and the farmer. though it takes some convincing..."we've been doing it this way for a hundred years".

      I do get your drift though. Government interference in personal lives is just wrong.
      And I wouldn't be surprised if there was some Monsanto type of organization out there pushing this along. The Amish farmers aren't using GM crops, I bet.

    • 1 year ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • 2hellnwait
    • +1
      2hellnwait  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Of course not, they intend to just make them more "efficient" and "environmentally friendly". . . after all, nothing can be done better than the government. . . remember the "benefits" of ethanol? . . just ask any progressive liberal

    • 1 year ago
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