In a continued effort to meet aggressive statewide climate change goals and special nutrient reduction goals for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has enlisted a team of University of Maryland researchers to evaluate its Animal Waste Technology Fund (AWTF). Researchers will embark on an interdisciplinary and holistic evaluation of technologies and trends in animal waste management in Maryland to provide recommendations back to MDA to inform future priorities.
The team, made up of faculty from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR), the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, and the University of Maryland Extension (UME), is led by Dr. Stephanie Lansing, professor and associate chair in AGNR’s Department of Environmental Science and Technology, who will create a comprehensive feasibility study of animal waste technologies in Maryland.
“Our goal is to create strategic information to guide the future AWTF awards,” said Lansing. Created in 2013, the MDA’s AWTF provides grants to those initiating the use of animal waste technologies, like composting, anaerobic digestion, or pyrolysis, according to the MDA website, in a way that reduces nutrients, provides alternative uses for waste, or produces energy or other marketable products.
“We’re going to evaluate the feasibility of different animal waste technologies and then evaluate their criteria for market trends, barriers to adoption, climate change, and environmental justice,” said Lansing. “We want to understand these technologies in the context of Maryland agriculture.”
