HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-17, Page 38RYAN
CANTELON
IS READY
FOR SPRING
with the car he
won from
Townsend Tire
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Agricultural Products ¤ (NOW.. (W C.1E F Imw iSTNot
A18. FARMING '93, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993.
Farmers help develop handbook for farmers
the previously existing Environ-
mental Farm Plan. "The plan had
been for the farm families to devel-
op the project then test it. We have
had people come forward saying
they would be interested so we are
trying to get funding for 10-15
farms this year," said Mr. Beard.
The de Boers worked with Elin
Gwyn and Diane Huffman, both of
whom were working on their Mas-
ters in Rural Development. The
first step, said Mr. de Boer, was to
set up the farm on a transparency
and locate the erosion problems.
The farmers marked the slopes of
the land and where the wooded
areas, rivers or streams and
drainage tiles were located. When
this information was recorded the
items were prioritized, Mr. de Boer
said.
"The first thing we looked at here
was the manure storage, which was
definitely a problem as it was on a
flat pad. A lot of the other things
they were looking for we had
already corrected," said Mr. de
Boer. A drainage ditch and wetland
area on the property had both been
fenced to restrict cattle access.
Rehabilitation was done by way of
planting an assortment of shrubs
and trees through a fenced area at
the back of the property.
Last year the manure storage was
built.
"Farmers realize where the prob-
lems are on their land. It's just get-
ting them in order and making the
changes economically." This sum-
mer the de Boers expect to plant a
windbreak.
Basically, Mr. de Boer said,
"They (the researchers) were here
to see how well we could identify
problems, then they bounced things
off us for the handbook."
Low input farmers, the de Boers,
both of whom have degrees in
Agriculture from the University of
Guelph, have been operating their
32 head dairy farm full-time for
just over three years, though they
have owned the 137 acre property
for almost seven years. As environ-
mentalists, he says, they do what
they can.
The family operations involved
in the project, he said, were a
diverse selection as the Pocchman
and Lobb farms were much larger
then the de Boer's. Also, Mr. and
Mrs. Jeffray and Mr. Poechman are
Continued on page A19
That's the plan
Ken de Boer of RR2, Lucknow takes a look at the
'Environmental Farm plan mapped out for him and his wife
Jocelyn by a research team from the University of Guelph.
By Bonnie Gropp
Making environmentally wise
choices has become the way of life
for many industries. Agriculture is
no exception.
Through studies and research,
farmers have learned that many
agricultural practices of the past are
having negative environmental
impacts. Erosion, manure and milk-
house waste runoff are reducing the
quality of water and land.
However, while many farmers
are aware of the problems at their
own operation they are not always
sure of where to start making
changes and how.
During the summer of 1991 four
area farm families, who have
demonstrated environmentally con-
scious farm practices, were selected
to take part in a study to be con-
ducted by a team of researchers and
grad students from the University
of Guelph. The purpose, of what
was to originally be a two year pro-
gram, was to develop a handbook
which would enable farmers to
more comprehensively identify
environmental and agricultural pro-
duction concerns on their property,
evaluate the concerns, choose
options for action and place these
actions into a priority order.
It was felt that in the past farm
management plans have been
developed by the experts with the
farmers' involvement limited. The
aim of this experiment was to build
on existing farm management
methods by use of an ecosystem
approach while utilizing the
farmer's invaluable knowledge of
his own land.
The project was supported by the
Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority (MVCA). Planning Co-
ordinator Phil Beard, who is also
secretary of the Ecological Farmers
Association of Ontario (EFAO),
recommended Don and Alison
Lobb of Goderich Township, Bruce
County farmer Gerald Poechman,
Brian and Bev Jeffray of RR2,
Wingham and Ken and Jocelyn de
Boer of RR2, Lucknow to the
research team. "The premise of the
project was that most farmers know
their land better than anyone so
they would be the best people to
develop environmentally conscious
practices with help from experts in
specific arcs," said Mr. Beard.
"We (MVCA) have been wor-
king with the EFO but they have no
written materials. We decided to
approach the University of Guelph
to take verbal information and put
it on papett so farmers have some-
thing to work from," he explained.
Mr. Beard added that funding
was, unfortunately dropped before
the second year of the project, due
in part to a concern of duplicating