New Horse Pasture and Manure Management Information is Now Available

ANNAPOLIS, MD - March 6, 2007 - Fourteen new fact sheets for horse owners and farm managers on a variety environmentally-sound ways to manage their properties are now available. The fact sheets, which are available on line at www.mda.state.md.us/go/how.php, provide information about on-farm best management practices for one of Maryland's leading agricultural sectors - horses.

"Horse operations use almost 700,000 acres of Maryland farmland," said Agriculture Secretary Roger L. Richardson. "It is important that horse farm operators have the best information to protect our soil and water and to help their bottom line. These new fact sheets are designed just for horse farms and provide valuable tools."

The fact sheets were developed by the Horse Outreach Workgroup, which is coordinated by the Maryland Department of Agriculture and made up representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service, The Equiery magazine, the Maryland Horse Industry Board, the University of Maryland Equine Studies Program and Cooperative Extension Service, and the state Soil Conservation Districts. Topics as wide-ranging as doing your homework before you buy or improve a farm; composting manure; seeding and management of pastures; and rotational grazing are covered.

For more information on horse manure management and other soil conservation and water quality practices, contact a local Soil Conservation District or University of Maryland Cooperative Extension office. The fact sheets are available on line at www.mda.state.md.us/go/how.php or in hard copy by calling the local Soil Conservation District or MDA at 410-841-5865.