Times Advocate, 1992-04-22, Page 211
Citizens develop
strategy for ABCA
EXETER - Local residents with
an incest in the environment are
preparing a strategy to guide wa-
tershed conservation into the twen-
ty -fust century.
About 20 people have met
monthly since September with the
Ausabie-Bayfield Conservation Au-
-- = ority (ABCA) soidentifyifte-itirtd
mf watersheds they want to have in
40 years, and what the Authority
iiaomld do to reach the vision. They
snswesent almost 100 groups who
have interest in the .local environ-
.itttsent, ranging from municipalities
eopaoverrrmett ministries to.apecial
Tislahartalloops. A few metttirerr of
the 31iiy�lVasitg�rotipti�eih:
cal individuals who want to offer
their personal input.
Between meetings, the members
of the Strategy'.Oroup receive feed-
back on the :strategy from the
*Ups they leprasent. A monthly
- _ groups ap-
limed of the 'progress. In this way,
allow number of people contribute
•rto.ihe Strategy.
Public input is emsettiai to this
process, acoordiltgiotdte ABCA.
"We are tryingatocget input and
consensus from .tall • Avho have a
stake in the watersheds. A unified
effort is essential to effectively con-
serve our watersheds. While this
may not be the quickest way to de-
velop a strategy, it will give us a
better end product and give us
some guidance for the use of our
funds and.staff resources," said Ka-
thyMonk of the ABCA.
Three ABCA staff attend the
meetings but are there only to facil-
itate the process and answer techni-
cal questions. (The Authority is in-
volved in a similar process with a
aignifualnt amount of public input
with the .Shoreline Management
Plan).
The Strategy Working Group has
come a long way towards a draft
version .of the Strategy document.
They have adopted a vision state-
ment which identifies the kind of
watersheds they. would like to see
Changes to
GRIP 4:.
REGINA - Changes to the Gross
Revenue Insurance Plan (GRIP)
will allow farmers to make_, their
cropping decisions .based on which
crops they can produce best and
can sell for the highest price, rather
than on the GRIP program. •
The problem with the old GRIP
was people looked to the program
to make cropping decisions,. says
Hal Cushon, manager of the Market
Analysis Section of Saskatchewan
• Agriculture and Food. It encour-
aged farmers to choose crops with
the highest .guarantee regardless of
'whether. there is a market for the
crop.
Now, instead of revenue insu-
rance coverage being crop -specific,
payments will be based on an area
average of all 18 eligible crops in a
risk area, he says. Saskatchewan
has 23 risk areas for crop insu-
rance, and every farmer in each risk
area is guaranteed the same rove -
nue insurance payment per acre, in-
dexed for the farmer's individual
yield.
"The revised GRIP allows farm-
ers to make production decisions
based on what they are best at
growing, and what the market re-
quires," Cushon says.
The GRIP changes will also pro-
vide for propel management deci-
sions on the level and type of farm
inputs such as fertilizer and pesti-
cide, he says. The old system of
offsets was criticized for removing
any incentive to produce a good
crop because an above-average
crop simply reduced the GRIP pay-
ment.
Now, offsets have been removed.
Farmers producing a bumper crop
keep all the market revenue from
that crop without it *fleeting their
/avenue insurance payments.
."Fanners have the incentive to
esgilace to their maximum abilii y,"
Cion says.
Themaws to GRIP are good
efl
far 1 agriculture because
iihrsfrdisgiaste the market -distorting
llikkillfects of the program, he says.
ipis are once again able to rc-
tl,sti ck1y to changes in the
rex, but they have the se-
curity of the GRIP program. In the
long run, these changes will keep
Canadian agriculture competitive
and efficient.
"Whenever people make business
isliajaigns based on support from 'a
-went program instead of
what they can best produce and
et wants, that's a reci-
. ."heaays.
in 20 yews. Simply said, the vision
is "one of clean and usable water-
sheds where human needs and the
• needs of the natural environment
are balanced to ensure quality of
life and biological diversity today
and in the future."
Furthermore, the group has de vel-
oped a "mission -statement" which
identifies how the ABCA will con-
tribute to accomplishing the vision
for the watershed. "The ABCA will
provide leadership and manage-
ment, in cooperation with the com-
munity, to maintain and enhance
the watdtdted resources now and in
the fume."
."
'Theoft . e , pltestionnaia, 'the
group -has identified and ranked en-
vironmental issues in order of pri-
ority and then developed goals to
address these issues. At the last
meeting; the group drafted a list of _
objectives to'achieve the goals.
--71fleelniett a good exercise;161-
beet at times frustrating for every-
one as we by to get input form the
various groups. Everyone has a
stake in the environment .and has
their own interests. But I think it's
:crucial that everyone has an oppor-
atmity to have a say in their future,"
said Monk.
The group hopes to develop "Ac-
tion Plans" in two April meetings
and then review the draft over the
summer months. -
Times -Advocate, April 22, 1992
Announce enhancement funds
OTTAWA - A two-year program 10 assist Ottaiio
producers who use environmentally sustainable prac-
tices will receive $1Smiliion in federal funding, fed-
eral Agriculture Minister Bill McKnight and Ontario
Minister of Agriculture and Food Elmer Buchanan
announced recently.
The program, called the Canada -Ontario Land
Management Assistance Program (LMAP), will pro-
vide fili1RdiJ--ihhta to fanttwt+1tito+tAatnt to im-
plement ettabat.ttei tiny sound ousuga trent practic-
es on their land.
"It iscsseatial-we work-to-achieve$gricuttural sus-
tainability through the use of improved land manage-
ment practices," McKnight said. "This program will
add resources to several existing programs to encour-
age farmers to make the most environmentally sound
use of land resources."
"This prograni will help Ontario farmers to retire
fragile landsand use reduced tillage practices in their
operations in order to conserve their soil resources,"
Buchanan said. "The provision of funding to produc-
er clubs will also encourage the transfer of such prac-
tices among farmers."
To support this technology transfer, the LMAP
program will provide funds for the development of
educational and reference materials on environmen-
tally sustainable farming practices.
The L1vI#P-program is -part of the fedral govern-
ment's Farm Support Adjustment Measures (FSAM)
program, announced in April, 1991 to fund initia-
tives that encourage agricultural sustainabililty.
Programs under LMAP include:
• High Crop Residue Cover: This $6 -million pro-
gram is already upend running for this year's spring
plantings. Its objective is to encourage no -till and
minimum -till field practices which improve soil
quality and leave crop rimes on the ground surface
to reduce water erosion. Eligible farmers may re-
ceive $30 per acre each year for 40 percent or higher
1
residue cover at dine of planting and S25 ter 30-39
percent residue, up to 100 acres or 30 percent of the
previods yaw's planted acres. Application and infor-
mation kits are available from county and district
committees of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improve-
ment Association (OSCIA), and at offices of the On-
tario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Application
deadlines vary across the province as set by OSCIA
local committees, beginning about May 1 for 1992
crop applications in some areas.
• Permanent Cover Program: This S4 -million
program allows a fanner to bid -up -to 510,800-In-
sistance to retire fragile croplands to establish long-
temn managed grass and trees. As in the National
Soil Conservation Program, LMAP's Permanent
Cover Program encourages buffer srips along water-
courses, and the creation of forested blocks on erodi- '
ble lands, providing a new emphasis on windbreaks
and managed buffer strips around wetlands. A new
rounti of bids is planned in the fall of 1992.
• Technolfer: this $3.9 -million program
has two thrusts. LMAP will expand the Best Man-
agement Practices materials prepared by OMAF,
Agriculture Canada and the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture under the 1991-92 Canada -Ontario *En vi-
ronmettal Sustainability Initiative (ESI)..LMAP will
also support -Farm Conservation clubs to enhance
farmer -to fanner -demonstrations,brreasa-reliability
of on -fame research, and improve on-farm planning
and decision-making.
• Water Quality Programs: LMAP applies $1.3
million to extend two water quality programs. Pilot
Demonstration Watersheds, under the soil and Wa-
•taerBatvimnmentnl•Enhancement Program (SWEEP),
will be extended into 1992 to determine the effects
of farm practices on surface water. The Rural
'Groundwater Survey will be extended to asses the
seasonal effects of fanning operations on groundwa-
ter.
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Hensall 24-3002
Seaforth 522-1000
Brumfield 233-3948
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Exeter 235-1150
Ailsa Craig 2933282
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