The Rural Voice, 2002-03, Page 48Ag News
Huron's bylaw may be preview of provincial NMP regs
A proposed nutrient management
model bylaw that could be a model
of what to expect when the province
announced its Nutrient Management
Act regulations was to go to
committee study at Huron County
council in February county planner
Scott Tousaw told the Huron Pork
Producers' Association Annual
Meeting in Seaforth. January 23.
From the committees, the proposal
will go to county council for
approval. then be circulated to
municipalities who must adopt it
before it will become law.
"We're asking the municipalities to
hold public meetings," Tousaw said,
adding the county hopes the
municipalities will adopt the bylaw
without significant changes.
"With any luck we'll have
reasonably consistent rules across the
county by fall." Tousaw said, noting
the bylaw is only a stop -gap measure
until the provincial government
implements its province -wide
nutrient management regulations.
The model bylaw, developed in
consultation with representatives of
farm and environmental groups,
became essential because six former
townships had interim control bylaws
in place to control the growth of large
livestock operations. An interim
control bylaw requires the
municipality to move forward to
create a set of rules under which
landowners can build.
Tousaw said the bylaw applies only
to new operations of 100 livestock
units or more, a size that should not
be termed "intensive" but
"regulated" • because that would
include only 400 feeder hogs. Both
liquid and dry manure operations are
included.
After much debate during its
formulation, the bylaw will include a
provision that the barn's owner must
own 25 per cent of the land needed
for the spreading of manure and that
land must be within a 15 km
distance. The rest of the land can be
through a registered agreement to
receive the manure.
The bylaw will require that
abandoned wells on a building site be
14 THE RURAL VOICE
identified and decommissioned, a
step Tousaw said is not expensive
and for which there are grants
currently available to assist.
There was a lot of debate about
whether a groundwater consultant
was required as well as a nutrient
management consultant but the
bylaw will not have a requirement for
the water consultant.
Sam Bradshaw, nutrient
management specialist with Ontario
Pork said farmers might look at the
Huron County plans as a preview of
what to expect when the province
finally passes its nutrient
management act and announces the
associated regulations. The
regulations must balance
environmental protection with
sustainable industry growth, he said.
"We want to be able to operate our
farms with pride and invest with
confidence." .
The government needs to help
farmers meet higher standards that
are of more benefit to society than to
the farmer, he said.
"If I have 240 -day storage (of
manure) and I think it's enough but
someone wants me to have 365 days,
they should have to compensate me,"
Bradshaw said.
He hoped the legislation would
require advisory groups like those
already in place in Huron and Perth
Counties to try to work out solutions
between neighbours.
Biosecurity is a concern for pork
farmers, he said. "I don't want
anyone walking into my barn without
biosccurUy "
Bradshaw said the rules shouldn't
be a hindrance to people wanting to
run small hog operations. "We don't
want rules to bring a Toss of more
producers. We're losing enough
already."
He worried about what he called
"overkill" in the legislation. He
worried that a requirement for 365 -
day storage might actually be
dangerous to the environment
because if a farmer knows he has just
240 days of storage he realizes he
needs to spread both spring and fall.
With 365 -day storage he may put it
off then have a full tank and be
forced to spread under unfavourable
conditions, Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw said he could agree with
the Huron proposal that a farmer
must own 25 per cent of the land
required for manure spreadirig within
a 15 km radius of the barn. "If I say
I'm going to spread it 60 miles away,
I'm probably not (going to)," he said.
The 25 per cent ratio seems
reasonable but could be argued
forever, he said.
Hz worried about provisions for
monitoring groundwater vulnerability
on new sites saying drilling
monitoring wells can easily cost
$100,000 and sampling them would
add even more.
He said the requirement that dry
manure storages be covered is of
great concern to the poultry industry
with one leader saying the move
might force poultry farmers to turn to
liquid manure storage.0
Perth back on top as Ontario's
top pork production county
Huron County, which had wrestled the title of top hog producing county in
the province from Perth, saw its neighbour recapture the title in 2001.
Huron's 594 producers shipped 793,803 hogs last year, Ontario Pork
figures showed, while Perth's 542 producers shipped 808,696.
Ontario had just over 4,000 producers last year, down from 7,000 in the
past 10 years but hog production has continued to rise with nearly five
million hogs shipped last year, said Bill Charlton, Ontario Pork executive
director (a value increase of 14.7 per cent over 2000). In answer to a
question at the Huron County Pork Producers' Association's annual meeting
about the loss of producers and where it might end, Charlton said the rate of
loss was slowing but "1 honestly don't know where it will settle out."0