Pennsylvania Legislature Releases Significant Report on Benefits of Competitively-Bid Nutrient Reduction Program

Lancaster’s Kreider Farms is successful early adopter of program, realizing remarkable reductions in nutrient and environmental impacts

MANHEIM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Pennsylvania Legislative and Budget Committee released a study last week that could significantly reduce costs and improve quality of life for Pennsylvania tax and water utility rate payers.

“We installed Bion Environmental Technologies’ equipment to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into the watershed. This provides significant improvements to our local public health and quality of life, and stimulates economic activity in our communities.”

The study concluded that adopting a competitive bidding program for verified nitrogen reductions could reduce Chesapeake Bay compliance costs to Pennsylvania taxpayers by as much as 80%. The proposed policy initiative enables low cost verified nitrogen reductions from agriculture, primarily livestock, to replace high cost municipal and storm water reductions to comply with the federal Chesapeake Bay federal mandate.

Ed Schafer, former US Secretary of Agriculture noted, “Local livestock operations like Kreider Farms have already been approved to provide verified nitrogen reductions from livestock and could produce a significant impact on lowering the costs to Pennsylvania tax and rate payers for watershed clean-up efforts.”

Of even greater importance to Pennsylvania than the cost savings to comply with the federal mandate, by enabling such projects, is that Pennsylvania will significantly reduce agriculture’s nutrient impacts to all its interior fresh water resources as well as the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Ron Kreider, president and CEO and the third-generation family leader of Kreider Farms, said, “We installed Bion Environmental Technologies’ equipment to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into the watershed. This provides significant improvements to our local public health and quality of life, and stimulates economic activity in our communities.”

The existing approach for nutrient reduction has proved to be unaffordable and provides little or no benefit to local rural interior communities. The Legislative Study shows that a new direction is needed to provide watershed clean-up that is affordable and provides real tangible benefits for tax- and rate payers, the environment, the fresh water recreational industry and agriculture.

Please click here to read the entire report: Full PA Legislative and Budget Committee Report.

Founded in 1935, Kreider Farms is one of Pennsylvania’s largest dairy farms, supplying fresh, high-quality eggs, milk, drinks and premium ice cream. The Farms’ mission is to achieve excellence in delivering low-cost, high-quality products; to be good neighbors and stewards of the land; and to operate clean, efficient and state-of-the-art facilities. Please visit www.kreiderfarms.com or www.facebook.com/kreiderfarms.