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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFarming '88, 1988-03-30, Page 48PAGE 24. FARMING ’88, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1988. Land Stewardship New OMAF programs promotes new care in taking care of precious resource: land As might be expected from a county that has been in the forefront of soil conservation pro­ grams for years, Huron county has had a heavy response to the Land Stewardship Program of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. “We’ve had a steady flow of about six applicants a day for the last month and a half,” John Hazlitt, fieldman for the project in Huron county said recently. When Jack Riddell Ontario’s Agriculture Minister announced the Land Stewardship Program last year he brought in a plan with a difference. Since land stewardship needs to be tailored to the particular needs of each area he looked for a way to localize the program. ‘‘We needed to provide an unparalleled amount of flexibili­ ty in the application of the program and we also felt it was essential to allow decision-making to take place at the local level,” he told a recent meeting in Blyth. ‘‘That’s because soil conservation and land stewardship involves much more than finances. You have to have the right philosophical approach. You have to be convinced that the steps you are taking will help in the long-term.” The solution for Mr. Riddell was to sign an agreement with the Ontario Soil and Crop Improve­ ment Association to oversee and implement the program. In Huron County it meant getting a very committed and dedicated group to form a commit­ tee to supervise the program. Led by people like Laurence Taylor of Hullett, Don Lobb of Goderich South of Clinton Muffler Supply 482-3752 A PROVEN PERFORMER ‘GRASS SEEDS ‘SEED CORN ‘LAWN SEED Call your Pickseed representative today -- Featuring •AMBASSADORALFALFA •PICKSEED 2700 CORN •TOUCHDOWN KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS township and the Hogan brothers of Ashfield, Huron has been a leader in conservation practices. Mr. Hazlitt who was hired as the fieldman for the project, was the first winner of the Norman Alexan­ der Award for conservation work, an award named after the Londes- boro conservationist who carried on a one-man crusade for many years to draw the attention of farmers and government to the damage being done by wind and water erosion. Huron, with $2.6 million allocat­ ed under the $40 million program, ranks with Kent as getting the biggest piece of the pie. The amounts are because of the number of acres in row crops, the most unstable kind of landuse. The program provides grants to encourage crop rotation to get away from planting the same row crops year after year to encourage changing cultivation practices so crop residue is left on top of the soil to prevent erosion, to promote planting of trees and installing erosion control structures and even to provide training in how to prevent erosion. * * If all the stuff is done there will be one hell of a change in the amount of erosion by 1990 (when the program ends),” Mr. Hazlitt said. Huron is taking a slow approach to the program, Mr. Hazlitt said, because the local committee doesn’t want to damage the program by making a bad decision. ‘‘We’ll make some mistakes but hopefully it will all work out,” he said. He praises the dedication of the local committee members who Neil Gowing Brussels 887-6292 Farm Tires The fastest growing farm tire in America Yields 20% to 40% more tread tile Increases fuel efficiency and draw bar horsepower 23% deeper lugs root deeply to produce more traction High flotation design causes less soil compaction, while offering a comfortable ride The pre-stablized belt construction and Halter tread contour make Taurus the true hybrid in farm tires. are so adamant that they want as much of the county’s allocation to go into actual projects that they donate the use of their own equipment rather than having to buy new equipmentfor such things as measuring out the area of land in question. Those same interests cause the Huron committee to adopt some different rules for the program in Huron than in other counties. For one thing, the Huron committee decided against having a deadline for applications as some counties have. The program was promoted from the beginning as a first come, first-served program, Mr. Taylor says. Some other county commit­ tees wanted to make their jobs easier so set a deadline and ended up with 600-900 applications and then had problems treating every­ one equally in giving out the grants. “We didn’t want to get a big rush of incomplete applications at the deadline,” Mr. Hazlitt added. They also didn’t want to stop applicationscominginafter the funds ran out because an ongoing flow of applications will illustrate a need to continue the program and perhaps persuade the Ontario government to extend the funding. There’s no question Huron is getting toward the limit of its funding, Mr. Hazlitt says of the heavy number of applications received so far, but the committee is still encouarging applications because some project may not be undertaken after all and then the next application in line will be eligible for the freed-up money. Huron has taken a low-key approach in promoting the pro­ gram. The committee spoke with the soil and crop association and with crop consultants. Three infor­ mation meetings were held around the county with more than 200 people attending. A series of workshops was held to help farmers fill out their applications. Mr. Hazlitt said he is pleased with the quality of the applications received. Mr. Hazlitt and Brent Kennedy of OMAF go over the applications and fine tune them and the farmer is called in if he needs help with the application. The applications then go to the committee which may still need more information and may work with the farmer some more. Once the grant is approved and work starts in the field it will be Mr. Hazlitt who oversees to see that it is being done according to the application. The most used portion of the program in Huron County is the Continued on page 25