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"An environmental group wants the state to require certain farmers to make changes in order to reduce runoff.Friday the state held a meeting to hear from the public.VIDEO: Farmers talk about using new management practices, conservationists talk about special map.\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0The Conservation Law Foundation wants to see buffer zones, cover crops and other practices be required by law for farms with heavy runoff.\u00A0 They recognize that some farms are making efforts, but say they want it required by law for those farms that are not making an effort.\"Agriculture will remain the biggest source of pollution to the bay unless a range or best management practices identified in CLF's petition are fully implemented on all critical source areas,\" said Conservation Law Foundation's Anthony Iarrapino.Farmers say they have been making efforts, and say if the state is going to make them plant a buffer zone, the state should also compensate them.\"They really should be leasing and paying the farmer because we have to pay taxes and mortgage on land and cannot have other people telling you what you're going to do with your land, not being able to pay your bills,\" said dairy and maple farmer Daniel Howrigan.The CLF says the lake belongs to everyone, and more needs to be done to clean it up.Farmers say they also want to see the water cleaner, but say they are not the only contributors, pointing to water treatment plants, urban storm water and decades of unregulated runoff.\u00A0 They say the relationship between a farmer and the land is a close one.\u00A0Many farmers who spoke at Friday's meeting say they were raised to be stewards of the land and water around them.\u00A0 They also say being a good steward and reducing runoff is better for the farm, so they have many motivations to do it.\"Topsoil is the most valuable thing on the farm.\u00A0 Nobody wants to lose it.\u00A0 Any nutrients you put on you don't want them getting washed away, you want them to stay on the land,\" said Howrigan.Conservationists say that a critical source area map can point to areas suspected to be highly susceptible to runoff.\u00A0 They say it's a relatively new tool that helps put more specific locations on what used to be more nebulous problem.\u00A0 However the Lake Champlain Basin Program, which commissioned the map, warns that it's only a model and has flaws inherent in any model.\u00A0 They say while CLF's petition highlights a problem that deserves attention, they should not use the critical source area map beyond it's intended purpose.\"For it to be used as an enforcement tool is a bit problematic,\" said Lake Champlain Basin Program Director Bill Howland.He said the LCBP commissioned the map to use as a guide to help start dialogues with certain farmers to discuss best management practices, which is what groups like Friends of Northern Lake Champlain do.\"It takes a one-on-one situation.\u00A0 It is very hard to sit behind a computer screen in Montpelier or Washington D.C. and look at a map with a little red dot on it and say this is what needs to be done without going on the land,\" said Dr. Kent Henderson, chair of Friends of Northern Lake Champlain.Jack Parent, a dairy farmer in Swanton, says he and other farmers care very much about the land and water and want keep them as clean as they can.\u00A0 But they say too much regulation too fast could choke smaller farms out of business.\"When I started on a dairy farm with my father in 1972 there were seven operating dairy farms between Swanton Village and Canada.\u00A0 Today I am the only one remaining.\u00A0 This is a threat that needs to be recognized and curtailed which is why I believe we need to carefully balance additional regulations with the responsibility of stewardship of our natural resources,\" said Parent.He said if there are any new mandates, they should come with funding to offset the increased burden on farmers.The state will take written comment on the CLF petition for 30 days, then the Department of Agriculture will make a decision."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.mynbc5.com/article/petition-calls-for-stricter-state-regulation-of-farm-runoff/3317949>