The Rural Voice, 2001-07, Page 20r
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16 THE RURAL VOICE
feed it the animals, you take the
manure and it goes back on the
crops."
It's bringing things back into
balance, Verkley says. "If you can
bring it into balance and you have
enough crop production to utilize the
nutrients you put on, then your farm
becomes size -neutral."
That means the size of the
operation doesn't matter and farmers
don't have to have caps on the size of
their operations and the system is
flexible enough to handle changes in
the economics and technology of
farming.
Nutrient Management meant
having land reasonably close by to
the barn. having minimum distance
separation between barns and
neighbours to avoid problems with
neighbours, (and conversely trying to
limit the number of farm severances
to reduce the number of non-farm
MDS regulations are
already having an
effect on the
countryside
neighbours in farming areas).
The minimum distance separation
regulations are already having an
effect on the countryside, Verkley
says, noting there are very few new
livestock barns being built close to a
road or neighbours and farmers are
seeking less densely populated areas.
"It has been very rewarding to see
that the industry is still able to
expand and renew itself," he says.
"We probably have one of the most
modern, animal facility industries
around. Clearly there are more new
barns housing livestock using the
latest technology in Ontario than you
see in Michigan or Quebec or New
York State. It clearly shows that
things are happening here in Ontario;
that we're not stagnant. And we seem
to be doing it on a sustainable level."
The beauty of the original
thinking behind the Environmental
Farm Plan and other environmental
initiatives is that they've been
flexible enough to deal with the
revolution in animal agriculture in
the past decade, he says.
When the Walkerton tragedy
happened and the public reaction of
fear and blame started, the fact that
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