The Rural Voice, 2006-05, Page 11It
Long•Terrn rnokong
for Today's Issues
Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario
7660 Mill Rd., RR 4 Guelph, ON N1H 6j1
Voice: (519) 837-1620 Fax: (519) 824-1835
Email: cffomail@chrishanfarmers.org
Web: www.christianfarmers.org
New Position Statements Adopted by CFFO
Delegates from the 22 district
associations of the Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario
met last week to discuss issues of
importance to the province's
farmers. The following position
statements were debated and
endorsed by CFFO delegates.
Terminator Technology
The CFFO opposes the further
development and introduction of
germination -inhibiting
(terminator) technology.
Delegates believe the primary
motivation of seed companies is
product control and not the
public good. In addition,
delegates believe that the
possibility of cross -species
infiltration is not well understood
and that a serious risk to food
security exists if the terminator
technology gets out of control.
Farms Less than 300 Nutrient
Units
The CFFO wants farmers with
operations under 300 Nutrient
Units to not carry any costs for
obtaining certification for
completing a nutrient
management strategy. Delegates
also want the strategy certifica-
tion process simplified to
one-half day, with approval of
strategies given to local
peer -review committees. The
CFFO believes that owner -
operators of smaller farms earn a
majority of their income off -farm
and should not be subject to the
same lengthy certification
process.
Predator Management
The CFFO wants the Ministry of
Natural Resources to be
responsible for paying farmers
compensation for livestock lost to
wildlife. In addition, CFFO
delegates want to see the MNR
put together and finance an
inventory of skilled people to
control serious predator or
crop -damaging wildlife. Finally,
beneficial management practices
for preventing wildlife damage
should be supported by a 90 per
cent cost share program with
federal/provincial participation.
If you would like a copy of any of
these position statements, log on
to www.christianfarmers.org and
proceed to the Policy and Issues
link.
Clean Water Act
While supportive of locally -developed source water plans for the province's watersheds, the Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario is not supportive of Ontario's proposed Bill 43: Clean Water Act, 2005.
"Landowners have no guarantees that they will be consulted when a source water protection plan is
developed," said John Kikkert, president of the CFFO. "In addition, the draft act allows municipalities to
prohibit normal farm practices without reimbursing farmers for the costs of changing their farming
practices."
"We would like to see the proposed legislation changed so that the Ministry of Environment is prohibited
from approving any source water protection plans that do not include an assessment of the costs of
implementation and a defined budget for the implementation," said Clarence Nywening, a CFFO vice-
president. "If the public wants higher water standards than currently provided by acceptable, normal
farming practices, then the public should be willing to pay farmers for their additional costs."
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