Defending the Farmers

Yesterday in Somerset County,the County Commissioners,along with representatives from the Somerset Farm Bureau and the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. met to hear concerns from residents about large chicken farming operations in east Princess Anne.
While I empathize with the citizens concerns,especially regarding water usage of "mega-farms",to place any more regulations upon poultry farmers will only effect our local economy adversely.Chicken is King on Delmarva-and those birds have supported many families in this area over the years.It is not a glamorous job,it is sometimes a high-risk gamble and it gets increasingly difficult each year.The price of electricity and fuel has placed an additional strain on poultry growers and they just may not survive more restrictions.With the national economy already on the brink,do we really want to "bite the hand that feeds us"?Think for a second about all the commerce that would be lost if the poultry industry downsized or folded altogether-not to mention jobs.Somerset County in particular is one of the poorest in the state and with the seafood industry tanking,we need the poultry farms.Contrary to popular belief,farmers are not the bad guys polluting the bay all by themselves,they are the original environmentalists.I think that with the advanced agricultural technology we have available today,we can eliminate alot of the negative aspects such as odor,runoff and litter management without eliminating the poultry farms.