The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-03-20, Page 23The Faun Edition, Week of March 20. 1985 - 3
Jane Sadler Richards appointed soil conservation advisor
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food is continuing its soil conservation and
management efforts with two new initiatives
this .year, Agriculture and Fbod minister
Philip Andrewes announced recently.
Fburteen soil conservation advisors have
been hired on three year contracts to work
with farmers to • solve soil conservation
problems. Nine are already in place with
another five scheduled to begin work April 1,
he said. Jane Sadler Richards has been
appointed senior soil conservation advisor'
and will work out of the Clinton OMAF office.
The enhanced advisory service is part . of
the $25.5 million Ontario Soil Conservation
and Environmental. ' Protection Assistance
Program announced in 1983. The program
More money for research
After spending one year as the Ontario*
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fbod, Dr.
Clay Switzer says the Ministry's main goal is-
"helping
s"helping farmers help themselves"..
Switzer told more than 300 fanners in
Hanover recently, that it was the role of the
ministry to provide information to farmers to
help make them more productive.
Providing information to farmers comes
naturally to Switzer. Before his appointment
to OMAFlastJanuary, he spent 29 years as a
professor at the Ontario Agriculture College
in Guelph. ,
One area where Switzer hopes the govern-
ment can .help farmers is in research.
Ontario curently spends $30 million on
research each year. Switzer outlined the value
of research. He says that each. dollar spent on
research generated $30 to $40 in income to
fanners through increased productivity.
In order to help fanners market their
products, Switzer said he hopes to see
Ontario agricultural • exports double in the
Next five years. Ontario currently exports $1.6
billion worth of produce each year.
Red rat development -
. , More than 4,700 Ontario producers are. now
enrolled in the three red meat development
programs for beef and sheep.
The programs, announced last May as part
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rod's Red.
Meat Plan, have paid out more than $1.7
million in incentives to beef and sheep
producers.
"The programs were introduced to boost
the quality, productivity and efficiency of the
beef and sheep industries in Ontario," said
program co-ordinator Dr. Jim Ashman.
. There are three development programs,
one each for cow -calf, stocker -slaughter and
sheep producers.
"The main Component for eadr program is
enrolment in performance testing pm -
grams," said Ashman. "There are additional
grants including assistance for herd health
programs, feed testing, management analysis
and capital facilities.
"We are pleased with the progress of the
programs so far and we are considering some
enhancements to the stodkeralaughter and
sheep programs," he said. •
Other red meat development initiatives
include a red meat research fund to accelerate
red meat research, and improved. advisory
services for beef and sheep producers.
The red • meat development invitiatives
were formulated as the first part . of the
ministry's $62.5 million, five-year Red Meat
Plan. The plan also includes strategies to
.improve marketing system for beef and
sheep.
Producers .may contact local agricultural
offices for additional information about the
red meat program.
also provides capital assistance for on farm
erosion control projects and manure storage
facilities.
"The program has created greater aware-
ness about the devastating effects of erosion
which causes losses of about $68 million each
and every year in agricultural productivity,"
said Andrewes. "These losses are due in part
to poor soil and crop management practices.
The Improved education service will try to
remedy this situation by advising producers
on better soil and carp management and soil
conservation for better profits."
Run off agricultural lands has also
contributed greatly to water quality problems
both in the Great Lakes and local inland
waters. This advisory program should help to
reduce the levels of phosphorous, bacteria
and sediment in these waters by encouraging
improved erosion and conservation tillage.
methods.
"This service actually had its genesis,"
said the minister, "as our contribution in a
recent co-operative effort with the. Ministries
of the Environment and Natural Resources to
find ways to improve water quality in the
province."
The program staff for the advisory service
will be located in seven of the province's most
erosion -prone areas, wltere it is becoming
increasingly vital to maintain crop land
productivity.
The second phase of the 1985 soil conser-
vation thrust involves the implementation of. a
joint agricultural soil Conservation program
with local conservation 'authorities.
"Negotiations are now underway with 12
conservation authorities and we hope to be
making joint announcements with them next
month," he said.
Earlier this year, the ministry introduced a
soil conservation awards program in co-oper•
-
ation with the Ontario Soil and -Crop Improve-
ment Association, to recognize farmers who
have made ' a commitment to good soil
management on their fanns. me awards
program is administered by local soil and crop
improvement associations which will also
select the recipients.
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