Annapolis, Md.-The legislative outlook is in doubt for a $2 per ton surcharge on specialty fertilizer distributed in the state to be allocated to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 trust fund (GM Feb. 23, p. 12). If passed, the bill would make Maryland the third state to adopt measures to reduce the impact of fertilizers on water quality. But the bill, according to Bill Angstadt with the Delaware/Maryland Agribusiness Association, is stalled in committee, with no action in nearly a month. “There was a hearing on HB 136 on Feb. 4; and since then there has been no further action in committee. The chair has not asked for a third reading, which would mean a vote, and the Senate will not consider until it is passed in full House,” Angstadt reported. “Whether it has died in committee at this point is still up in the air. There have been no additional sponsors and the committee chair hasn’t joined as sponsor. That’s one good indication that it will fail this session, but you can never tell in politics.” Meanwhile, in Arkansas, a bill to double the state’s fertilizer tonnage fee to pay for soil tests and support the sampling and testing program is moving through the legislature without opposition, according to the state plant board. The bill, which raises the fee from $1.20 to $2.40, sailed through the Senate committee on agriculture, forestry and economic development, and on Feb. 23 passed the Senate 35 to 0. It was scheduled into the House agriculture committee before the end of the month. Under the higher rate, the University of Arkansas soil testing and research laboratory would get $1.78 per ton to help pay for soil tests, while 62 cents would go to the plant board to pay for sampling and testing. Since 1993 the number of soil samples processed each year has increased from about 55,000 to 115,000, causing the lab to run a deficit for the past three years.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain