ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va (WHSV) — After a recent report showing high pollution due to runoff from animal waste in Shenandoah River, farmers throughout the Shenandoah Valley are speaking out about what they do to improve water quality.
Craig Miller, a farmer in Rockingham County, recently planted 179 trees as a buffer to improve the water on and around his property.
This project was done with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
He also has cattle fencing to keep livestock out of water sources that could flow into local streams.
Cattle fencing helps prevent that kind of problem.
I think, by and large, the Chesapeake Bay would say we are doing a better job."
The water was cleaner when it left our property, than it was coming in."
These projects are also completely voluntary, and Cory Guilliams, District Conservationist, says, "Over the past five years, I looked at some numbers earlier, we’ve done several hundred, over 300 hundred projects with people."
Miller and Threewitts are just a few of the farmers that have made financial investments to try and better the environment.
Miller says, "Enough’s enough, let’s turn the tables, and tell people what we do and how we love our animals and how we love our land and we do the right thing in agriculture."