The Rural Voice, 2000-12, Page 56GREY
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
Email: grey@ ofa.on.ca Website: www.ofa.on.ca/grey 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
• The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey
County Farmers by the GCFA.
Walkerton's a wake-up call about protecting our water
The Walkerton water quality
problems and the subsequent inquiry
should be a wake-up call to all
farmers whether we are large or
small, crop or livestock. At anytime
we could be called upon to defend
our actions or inactions.
There are a host of things that we
should consider doing to protect and
enhance our environment for
ourselves and for society.
Soil erosion is, or can be, a major
concern. Some things to be
considered here are establishing tree
windbreaks to help protect against
strong and persistent winds. We
might also consider planting and
maintaining grassed waterways to
protect sloping and lower areas from
erosion. This will help minimize the
possibility of soils with chemicals
applied to them from being washed
into a water course.
Plow -down, and/or, cover -crops
can be used for erosion control as
well can be minimum or no till
programs.
Water quality can be maintained
whether it is going into our creeks
and rivers or going through our soils
into the water table as ground or
surface water.
Baseline water tests should be
done initially and then be done on a
regular basis thereafter.
When spreading manure, whether
it is dry or liquid, timing is critical.
We might be wise to spread less per
35th Annual Grey -Bruce
FARMERS' WEEK
AND TRADE SHOW
January 3 - 6, 2001
Elmwood Community Centre
For more information contact
Grey County Agricultural
Services Centre 519-986-3756
52 THE RURAL VOICE
day but take the extra time to work it
in sooner. Manure should be used on
all fields of the farm, not just the
convenient ones at the front. We
might consider stockpiling manure at
these fields when spreading is not
possible.
Soil testing is a tool that should be
used on an ongoing basis. The
information that we can get from this
test will help us set up crop rotations
as well as give us an indication if we
are getting into too high levels of
nitrogen, phosphorus, or potash.
Creeks and ditch banks should be
fenced off from cattle pasturing
adjacent to them. Buffer strips should
be used and established along these
waterways to help prevent eroded
soils and heavy rainfalls. These
buffer strips provide an area for
wildlife as an added bonus. When
spraying crops adjacent to these
buffer strips be sure to remember to
keep well back to help prevent spray
drift from getting into the
watercourse.
Manure storage areas at the barn
should be cement based with a
retaining wall especially if the
storage area is sloped.
Chemical containers should be
triple rinsed, label removed, and
taken to your chemical supplier for
recycling purposes.
Hazardous waste days held at your
local landfill sites should be used to
dispose of all unneeded hazardous
waste products.
Record-keeping should be a part
of our daily operations when we are
doing any job that can impact our
environment be it air, water or
ground. This will help prove due
diligence if we are ever in a position
to justify our actions.
These are just a small sampling of
ideas that should be implemented to
help make a small difference to our
environment. Some of these come
with a dollar cost but this should be
offset by an improved bottom line in
some cases, as well as a better
environment and a sense of well
being.°
— Submitted by Brent Zeinstra
Executive Member
President, Egremont Township
Federation
The Grey County
Federation of
Agriculture Executive
and Directors extend
Season's Greetings to
all our members.
GREY COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORS' MEETING
Thursday, December 14, 2000
1:00 p.m.
Annesley United Church, 82 Toronto Street, Markdale
Members are welcome to attend.
*NOTE DATE AND TIME CHANGE*