Ever heard of "Policing your own ranks?" All of us live upstream of someone else, meaning what we do effects the water quality for those downstream.
I don't want you pooping in my drinking water any more than the guy downstream wants me pooping in his drinking water. So yes, we all have the responsibility
to do our best to make sure we have as little negative impact on water quality as is possible. Unfortunately most city folks only see what we do to our water
but fail to realize that in general, they use the same products in their yard as we do in our fields, except that they use far more on a per acre basis. For years I've
worked wtth school kids enlightening them on water degredation and how we are all part of the problem, not just farmers or factories.
Missouri's Department of Natural Resources has been at the forefront with many programs aimed at protecting our soil and water resources. I've talked with many
of their big wheels and their thinking is that by taking matters into our own hands and doing what's environmentally right, them EPA won't have a leg to stand on
when they want to impose their own version of natural resources protection. And don't think that EPA won't, just ask any farmer in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
when it comes to them limiting the nutrients entering the bay. EPA doesn't go after the city people that pour huge amounts of fertilizer on their yards or the golf course
that use huge volumes of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, instead it's the everyday farmer that is bearing the brunt of the regulations. Don't think that I'm some
burned out old hippie because I'm as far from that as is possible, yet I believe it's my responsibility to minimize erosion on my farm and to make sure the water leaving
my farm is as clean as possible.
