Trenton, N.J.-New Jersey agriculture interests are concerned over state requirements that all municipalities in the Upper Freehold watershed must adopt a low-phosphate fertilizer ordnance based on a model provided by the Department of Environmental Protection. The area has the largest number of acres in the state farmland preservation program. The sample ordinance reads that prohibited conduct includes applying fertilizer when a runoff-producing rain is predicted and/or when soils are saturated and there is a potential for fertilizer movement off-site. According to the New Jersey Farm Bureau, local water quality management plans usually exempt agriculture under right-to-farm provisions. But reports indicated that the sample ordinance contains prohibitions against applying fertilizer more than 15 days prior to the start of or at any time after the end of the recognized growing season. Gaby Grunstein, Farm Bureau water quality field rep, told Green Markets that states imposing requirements on townships is “somewhat questionable,” and that fertilizer used on commercial farms is generally not covered unless it involves improper application.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain