Maryland Department of Agriculture Issues Request for Proposals: Manure Management Technologies

ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Maryland Department of Agriculture has issued a grant solicitation for demonstration projects from vendors, businesses, and individuals offering technologies that can improve the management and utilization of manure and other nutrient-rich, on-farm generated waste products.

Nutrients are a major source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Maryland and the other Bay jurisdictions are working to reduce the amount of nutrients—mainly nitrogen and phosphorus—from entering the Bay in order to meet the 2025 clean water goals established by the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).

While poultry litter and livestock manure make excellent fertilizers and soil amendments, their use as a crop fertilizer creates challenges for farms with high soil phosphorus levels. To help these producers protect waterways from excess phosphorus and remain profitable, Maryland is investing in innovative technologies that support new uses for manure such as alternative product development and manure-to-energy projects that add value to the farm business model.

Maryland farmers have long been leaders in managing nutrients, demonstrating that it is possible to be profitable and conservation-minded at the same time. Since 1998, Maryland farmers have been required to follow nutrient management plans when fertilizing crops and managing animal manure. In 2015, Maryland farmers began transitioning to the Phosphorus Management Tool, an updated tool that identifies areas where there is a high risk for phosphorus runoff.

Maryland’s Animal Waste Technology Fund is a grant program that provides seed funding to companies that demonstrate innovative technologies to manage or repurpose manure resources. The program is a key component of Governor Larry Hogan’s broader Agriculture Phosphorus Initiative to improve water quality, strengthen agriculture, and bolster rural economies.

The Fund has $3 million available to invest in innovative technologies during State Fiscal Year  2017, which ends June 30, 2017. A minimum of $1 million will be directed at projects with a renewable energy component. There is no maximum or minimum request. Vendors, businesses, and individuals are invited to respond to this grant solicitation which may be downloaded from the department’s website.

Proposals should be submitted by 4 p.m. local time on March 15, 2017 to: 

Ms. Louise Lawrence
Maryland Department of Agriculture
Office of Resource Conservation
50 Harry S. Truman Pkwy
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: [email protected]
Fax: 410-841-5734

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