HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-08-21, Page 6The Ausable BayfieldConservation Authority (ABCA)hosted a tour of six farm sites last week, demonstrating recentenvironmental projects in action andgood practises for the future.On the schedule were stops atMurray Scott’s demonstration site,the municipal drain that runs through his property, Carol Leeming’s farmin Tuckersmith, and the Stute farm inBrussels to name a few.The idea behind the tour, said TimCumming of ABCA was toshowcase some of the programs available to farmers that can helpfrom a financial and environmentalstandpoint. With a tight schedule, Cummingadmitted that it would not allow forvery in-depth tours, spending justover 30 minutes at each site.
Leeming, who works for Huron
County, in addition to being the
chair of the stewardship council, has
several projects in the works at her
home. She and her husband Bob,
have lived at the farm since 1987,
and have been working on it every
since.
Work has come gradually, but over
the years, they have planted
hundreds of trees at the site that also
houses a 36,000-hen poultry farm.
There is also a new manure storage
building and a windmill in addition
to several other projects in the
works.
Leeming said that funding from
government agencies can be
sporadic, which makes it hard to add
on projects like she has. When
funding is available, she said,
landowners jump at the chance and
do as much work as they can. With
her years of experience and time
with Huron County, Leeming has
accrued substantial knowledge when
it comes to grants and application
processes, something that has helped
her with these projects over the
years.
For example, she said, the
windmill the Leemings have was
installed in 2006 and required a near
$200,000 capital investment, but
now, between that and other energy
projects she has taken on, her house
and farm is very close to being self-
sufficient. This energy is all put back
into the grid and then credited back,
as she has strived not to use
batteries.
Murray and Wilma Scott’s
municipal drain, an area that often
takes 90 minutes to tour, was one of
the busier stops. Scott’s property
involves so many projects, with the
University of Waterloo working with
the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority to construct wetlands and
build berms to increase precipitation
storage and improve drainage and a
new project involving nitrate filters
that the surface was simply
scratched on Scott’s project.
Scott said that the project has
helped to retain water during dry
periods and drain and store water
over wet periods. He concedes that
not every farmer would have thefunds to put all of the work into theirproperty that he has with his, but hesays that even one or two of the ideasexplored at his demonstration sitecould provide near-immediatebenefits for many area farmers.
Rob Stute of Brussels, was one of
the first farmers to take advantage of
the Huron County Clean Water
Project PEGS program, meaning
Payment for Ecological Goods and
Services. Stute essentially leases ten
acres of his land to the conservation
authority for ecological reasons, to
plant trees and the farmer retires the
land and has to leave the trees to
grow for five years and is paid for
the land.
Stute stands by the project and
says he has liked working with the
conservation authorities over the
years.
Other stops on the tour included
the Klaver farm in Brucefield, which
demonstrated a fire recovery and
how rebuilding can be an
environmentally-friendly
opportunity. John Klaver is also
enrolled in the Huron County
Stewardship program, protecting
drinking water sources and his
wellhead.
Councillor Jim Ginn and Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh reeve Ben Van
Diepenbeek were on hand at Ginn’s
farm to discuss the success of the
Huron County Clean Water Project,
which recently surpassed $2 million
in project value.
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008.
Demonstration
Murray and Wilma Scott have seen nearly 200 people come through their property to view
their demonstration project and the municipal drain that runs through the property. They were
one of six farms available on a tour conducted by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority
on Aug. 13 and they hosted nearly 30 local dignitaries and politicians on Friday. (Shawn Loughlin
photo)
ABCA leads tour of environmental projects
Continued from page 1
water flow and temperature
adjustments, he has been seeing
more fish coming through the
waterways.
Scott remembers decades ago
when adjacent properties,
specifically a fishery to the west of
his land had a large number of trout
swimming, something that stopped a
long time ago. However, in recent
months, he says, fish have been
slowly making their way back.
In addition to improving the
fisheries, the project has reduced
sediment that had been blocking the
municipal drain. It was when Scott
first called MVCA for this concern
that this demonstration project idea
was discussed. Since then, the
property has seen between 10 and 15
official tours (not including many
unofficial ones and people stopping
by) with approximately 200 people
coming through.
Scott said he has always had a
keen interest in things like this,
experimentation and trying things
just to see if they can be done. With
several arms of local politics in
attendance, Scott took the
opportunity to say that if there was
one thing that would have made his
project, and others like it, easier, it
would be better communication
between different branches of
government.
Right now, he is working with the
University of Waterloo on a nitrate
filter project, but there have been
some hurdles with the Ministry of
Environment.
“I have seen some not so great
communication between different
departments of government, which
can make something like this rather
difficult,” Scott said. “If I was to
suggest anything it would be for the
politicians and departments to have
a big picnic and co-ordinate their
efforts and feed more down to local
authorities, because they have a
pretty good handle on the issues
their area faces every day.”
The Scott Municipal Drain has
been a tour hotspot as of late. The
Ausable Bayfield Conservation
Authority included it as one of six
farms that were toured on Aug. 13
and Phil Beard of MVCA hosted a
tour with local landowners on
Tuesday to highlight some areas that
can be done simply and the benefits
that can be seen from such a project.
Trout returning to waterway
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