Posted: 02.11.2010

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau is urging farmers to attend a Feb. 25 public hearing in Platteville regarding proposed changes to the state’s nonpoint source pollution regulations.

 A public hearing in the University North Room of the Pioneer Student Center (One University Plaza) in Platteville is one of seven scheduled around the state on the rules officially known as NR 151.  

 The Farm Bureau will host a pre-meeting before the public hearing to further explain the proposal from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the University South Room of the Pioneer Student Center. 

Proposed changes within the rules that will impact area farms include:
* Creation of new performance standards for total maximum daily loads.
* No longer basing nutrient management plans exclusively on crop needs.
* New definitions for the phosphorus index, tillage set-backs and process wastewater.
* A new tillage setback performance standard would prohibit tillage and row cropping within 20 feet from bodies of water. 

* The definition of a feedlot is added and includes barnyards, exercise areas and other outdoor areas where livestock are concentrated for feeding or other purposes where vegetative cover is not maintained.

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