The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 50Ag News
Reasonable standards only win for agriculture
Continued from page 45
be. "If we get the standards where
they need to be our feeling is we
don't need much funding. The only
win for agriculture is to get the
standards reasonable."
Ben Van Diepenbeek of Ashfield
wondered how an operator with
multiple adjacent or nearby "small"
farms would be classified.
Attena said it would be up to the
farmer as to whether they would
declare their operation as one farm
unit or more. "There is clearly
flexibility in how you declare your
farm unit."
FitzGibbon cautioned, however, to
think carefully before deciding. "As a
single you could be over 300 NU."
Van Diepenbeek also stated his
feeling that if a person with a
category one or two farm wants to be
involved earlier than 2008 there
should be funding available.
"That would be a way to encourage
voluntary compliance," agreed
Armitage. "The province needs to
come up with some kind of strategy
on this."
A young man in the audience said
he was concerned because he would
be taking over a large family
operation and wondered if he could
afford the changes.
"The Minister is aware of the
succession program. The government
doesn't want nutrient management to
be a barrier to taking over a farm. I
believe there will be specialized
programs to deal with new farmers
rather than new farms," said
FitzGibbon.
The panel also explained the
process for responding to complaints.
The initial contact would be with
OMAF. "They will seek a non -
confrontational way to solve it," said
FitzGibbon. Should this not happen,
OMAF would contact the Ministry of
the Environment.
"Farmers still have protection of
the courts, but the enforcement will
be a much more progressive order at
this point."
In the end there will be prosecution
if no other solution can be found.
46 THE RURAL VOICE
Armitage spoke of a local advisory
committee. "It would be essential for
mediation of complaints. We feel
there's value. There is one in Huron
which has worked well and we would
like to see a real commitment from
OMAF on this."
Bob Hallam of West Wawanosh,
however, wondered if with a
provincial advisory committee,
comprised of farmers, municipal
representatives. environmental
scientists and others, the local group
would be little more than puppets.
As many of the complaints are
nuisance. Armitage said these would
be handled by the local group.
"That's where we see the local
advisory group active. I have heard
nothing but good things about the
local committee model."
Concern was also expressed by
several about the required inspection
for manure storage. FitzGibbon said
that unless the storage was in
protected areas, the first technical
inspection, he believed, would be
done by the farmer using a checklist.
An engineer need only be contacted
if there's a problem.
Attena concurred, adding however,
that "it's a clearly contentious issue
from our perspective. We don't think
an engineer's inspection is practical.
"We believe if the storage facility
is put into the building codes and the
farmer signs off that it's adequate,
then it's adequate. If the government
doesn't agree then they can hire their
own engineer."
The matter would be discussed at
the advisory committee level, the
group was told.
Covers for dry manure storage will
not be required. "The coffee shop
talk of concrete bunkers with roofs
simply is not true."
Asked how many farms are near
municipal wells, FitzGibbon said no
one knows. "(The province) wants to
protect wells based on the time and
travel idea. If you look at much of
Europe for agriculture the distance
impacts are 50-90 days. The Ministry
wanted two years. We can see that
for toxic compounds, but if the threat
is bacteria 50 days is all that's
needed."
Farmers were also upset about the
vegetative buffers from water
sources, as it means a loss of
agricultural land. "If the
municipality wants you to farm, you
should be paid for environmental
services you provide. You're not just
producing timothy, you're producing
clean water. This is an income -based
activity," said FitzGibbon.
Peter Johnston, a crop specialist
with OMAF reminded however that
the issue isn't just bacteria. "It's
nitrates in the groundwater. They
have a bigger catcher zone than 50-
90 days. Nutrient management
should deal with the nitrate problem.
Nitrate can be partially linked to
agriculture. Agriculture has to take
some of the blame."
Bennett commented, "We're
talking about a product that in most
cases is not worth the value to haul it.
Whatever we do is value to society. I
just want you to think about that"
Other concerns were raised about
storage times, spreading,
transportation and insurance.
Regarding the latter, FitzGibbon said
that with compliance, insurance rates
should be significantly less. "The
Minister has said this is as much for
your protection as the environment's.
This knife has two edges and both are
sharp."
And when will the uncertainty end?
FitzGibbon said they had hoped to
see the final regulation by last week
or this week. "We are going to these
meetings and a lot of what we're
saying is our best knowledge. In
terms of uncertainty, there are
probably going to be five years of
uncertainty."
Bennett closed the discussion with
commendations to the panel. "They
have worked long and hard to get us
where we are from where we started.
I give them my total gratitude."0
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