DENTON — Eastern Shore delegation members are concerned about burdensome regulations and initiatives put on Maryland farmers that might make it hard for farmers to do business.

“We went from the whole septic crisis last year, which had an impact on farm values. We’ve gone through nutrient management crises. Every year, there’s a new crisis. Every year, you’re back here with another major proposal that has a significant impact on farm economics,” Sen. E.J. Pipkin, R-36-Upper Shore, said to Maryland Department of Agriculture Secretary Earl Hance Friday at the weekly Eastern Shore delegation meeting.

The newest “crisis” delegation members are wary about is the Phosphorus Site Index regulation aimed to control the amount of phosphorus spread on a farm, and the regulation is currently out for public comment.

Pipkin said Hance called for Maryland farmers to do their part in the cleanup of the Bay, an industry which since has been strained by environmental regulations.

Hance said the new P-site regulations will have varying impact depending on the farm operation and what the current soil conditions are on that farm.

“Of course, the most significant impact is going to be for those areas that have high phosphorus levels, and mostly on the Eastern Shore where there’s been a historical application of poultry litter, some in central-Maryland where historical application of dairy manure have been on certain lands,” Hance said.

At the meeting, Del. Steve Hershey, R-36-Queen Anne’s, asked Hance if the new regulation would help or hurt farmers, to which Hance replied the new P-site index would have an impact on a producer who now has soils with high phosphorus levels who no longer can apply that soil to fertilize their field. That farmer will have to find a source to sell that litter to, which Hance said isn’t hard to do.

“The litter he has currently, he can no longer put on his property, but he now has to find a buyer for that, and now also go out to a commercial fertilizer and bring it down. Sounds like a lot of impact, a lot of negative impact,” Hershey said.

Pipkin asked Hance what he does as secretary on MDA to stop some of the “craziest proposals from putting this community in such stress every year.”

As a state agriculture department, Hance said MDA is required to adhere to the Environmental Protection Agency’s goals and deadlines, just like all other states.

“Why don’t we tell the EPA to go to hell and fight ’em? I’ve got people back home that are coming into my office weekly saying they can’t make it anymore, and these are good, God-fearing, hard-working, tax-paying people,” Pipkin said. “Let me tell you, Pennsylvania’s about to have a little … push-back with the federal government.”

Andrew McLean, a Queen Anne’s County poultry farmer and agricultural banker, said the P-site index will have a major impact on the lower-Shore as farmers there will have to pay for the phosphorus-ridden litter to be removed but not buy the litter that others are selling.

But for McLean, getting rid of the litter and having to buy commercialized fertilizer with less phosphorus could be bad for crops.

“Phosphorus level may be high, but it’s not available to the plants. You still need to put on, in most cases, some additional phosphorus, because what’s down there in the soil is not readily available, which means if we don’t put the phosphorus on we’re going to have lower yields,” McLean said

Some delegates also are concerned about a new energy initiative to turn chicken litter into energy.

Farmers will be able to have their unusable chicken litter taken to this facility where it will then be turned into energy.

What concerns some delegates is the company, Green Global Energy Systems, who’ll be building the new energy facility at a still-unknown location on the Eastern Shore is from California and hasn’t ever built a facility like the one proposed.

“We brought in a California company when we had Purdue, a local company, was kind of the victim of some other fights that went on. It’s like a black eye on the other side,” Del. Jay Jacobs, R-36-Kent, said. “We always talk about job, job, jobs here in Maryland, and we’re bringing in a California company.”

Hershey questioned whether shipping wet manure to a centralized manure-to-energy facility is cost-effective, and said he’s heard on-site manure-to-energy facilities would probably be more cost-effective.

Hance said the cost-effectiveness of shipping the manure depends on if it’s a dry or liquid product, in that more liquid manure wouldn’t be cost-effective to ship out.

According to Hance, there’s $2.5 million in the 2010 MDA trust fund that will be available for farmers who apply, and based on their application, they can either get a loan or grant to put up machinery to have an on-site manure-to-energy facility instead of paying to have it shipped out to a centralized location.

“We’re trying to do the best that we can to assist our producers with those tactical and financial resources,” Hance said.