BY DAVID IRVIN

Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007

State Rep. Bryan King, RBerryville, agreed Friday to drop House Bill 2298, which would have allowed some farmers to spread chicken litter as fertilizer while waiting for state-mandated plans meant to protect watersheds.

King said he reached a compromise with Randy Young, executive director of the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, who pledged $ 250, 000 to hire more technicians to speed up the planwriting process.

“The season is just now starting for a lot of people to apply fertilizer, so hopefully this will get some help on the way in time so they make the right decision for their situation,” King said in a telephone interview Friday.

A law that took effect Jan. 1 mandates that farmers in certain ecologically sensitive areas obtain a management plan before applying chicken litter as fertilizer. More than 700 farmers are waiting on their farm-specific plans to be written, however. That process requires an extensive study of land gradation, foliage and other factors that affect how much phosphorus ends up in watersheds.

An abundant commodity in poultry-growing regions, chicken litter helps increase pasture yields, which in turn allows farmers to feed their cattle inexpensively. But phosphorus runoff into watersheds causes algae and other aquatic plants to grow unchecked, which is why the Legislature mandated the farm-specific plans.

Advocates for the farmers contend that the backlog in plan writing will prevent the application of poultry litter this growing season, which could be costly for cattle raisers trying to follow the law.

Each new technician will cost about $ 35, 000 per year, but some of the money will go toward speeding up lab work and paying mileage for trips to the farms. The money will come from the commission’s water, sewer and solid waste fund, Young said in a telephone interview Friday from his Little Rock office. “I’m pleased that we were able to come up with a plan that will get it resolved. I wish we were able to get it resolved quicker, but we are doing the best we can do,” Young said. If farmers aren’t able to spread chicken litter this season, they may opt to buy and apply commercial fertilizer, but that will cost more per acre, a chicken litter exporter said this week