Harry has a good post on the impact of environmental regulations on small farms.
While it is honourable and virtuous to call for that help, it also behooves governments to think with their heads instead of their hearts when it comes to designing, devleoping, and implementing these regulations that have no thought of tomorrow and how farmers will pay for the added costs.
The ban on winter spreading of manure is one more example of blunt regulation to prohibit a practice that can be benign if it is managed properly. There are some soil types and watersheds where winter spreading of manure would cause no harm to either the environment or to neighbors. Instead of setting up a system that recognizes the situational suitability of a practice, the government prohibits it entirely.
A comparable attitude on the part of the government was demonstrated when they proposed to ban the use of sewage ejectors. Yes, there are certainly situations where the use of sewage ejectors are inappropriate, but instead of focusing on problem situations, the government proposed a blanket ban.
That type of action by the government would be the opposite of Smart Green….which would be dumb green?
