Threat to Farms Could Mean Higher Food Prices

On the surface, a program to make sure farmers don’t pollute the environment sounds like a good idea.

But dig deeper, warns the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. 

The group, along with the American Farm Bureau Federation, is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over an alleged abuse of power that could reduce the amount of farmland across the state, the PFB says.

So, what’s this got to do with local consumers?

The answer could be as close as the $1 cucumber in your local grocery store. 

PFB spokesman Mark O’Neill said the issue stems from an EPA computer model that assumes Pennsylvania farmers have a negative impact on the environment and  waterways that lead to the Chesapeake Bay.

The model only considers statistics reported by government funded studies, he said.

However, countless farmers across the state in recent years have voluntarily worked to ensure safe environmental practices and reduce soil erosion, O’Neill said.

The EPA model does not consider those practices, he said.

“(Pennsylvania farmers) lead the nation in the amount of land that is no-till,” he said. “We think that the (model) itself is flawed.”

The lawsuit contends the EPA exceeded its authority, O’Neill said. 

And that could cause problems for area farmers and consumers, said Andrew Frankenfield, a local farmer and agricultural educator at Penn State’s Montgomery County Extension Office.

Montgomery County includes over 700 farms and roughly 50,000 acres of farmland, he said and added that PSU for years has conducted on-farm research programs to assist in environmentally healthy agricultural production.

Area farmers also question how much of the pollution in local streams comes from residential lawn care chemicals.

Although Montgomery County is in the Delaware Bay River Basin, local farmers are concerned the EPA's Chesapeake Bay watershed legislation could set a far-reaching precedent that blames the agriculture industry for pollutants that come from other sources, he said. 

“Some of the regulations the way they’re proposed will reduce the number of acres of farmland,” Frankenfield said. “In our area it potentially could lead to less produce.”

And less supply plus greater demand will drive up costs of food, he said. 

“Commodity prices area already at a high point,” Frankenfield said.