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The Huron Expositor, 1998-03-18, Page 61Farm Progress '98 - Page SA Nutrient management plan addresses urban, rural by Rick Kew During, the last sev- eral months the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC) has developed a nutrient management plan- ning strategy which addresses urban and rural concerns. OFEC, which has rep- resentation from farm, municipal agri-business and educational organiza- tions unveiled its strategy at the recent Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto. Bert Vorstenbosch, of RR 2 Mitchell, chaired OFEC's nutrient management sem- inar at ROMA. OFEC scheduled five meetings across Ontario to gain input from interested parties, said Committee Chair Bert Vorstenbosch, who attended one such meeting with Perth Warden Dave Shearer and County Planner Dave Hanly in Brussels March. 3. Hanly informed Perth County council March 5 that requirements in OFEC's draft plan sug- gests that it is directed toward larger livestock operations of 150 live- stock units rather than requiring it for all opera- tions. After discussion among the council mem- bers, Hanly was requested to prepare a report which will he forwarded to OFEC outlining the coun- ty's concerns. Perth East Mayor George Wicke said. "II we don't make a comment ton OFEC's plan) it appears we are satisfied with nutri- ent management in Perth — and we are not. We have talked about that before." It was pointed out by West Perth Mayor John Van Bakel that "cash crop- bers" who do not soil sam- ple on a regular basis end up oversprcading commer- cial fertilizers and those nutrients end up in the waterways amell. Underscoring the coun- ty position that all farmers should be required to have a nutrient management plan, Warden Shearer said it would be difficult to draw a line between neighboring farms where one operation was only slightly smaller than the other. The county requires livestock operators to own 60 per cent of the land base required to properly handle manure require- ments, while OFEC's plan has no such restriction, he explained. However, Perth East Councillor Ian Forrest said the issue of land owner- ship, as opposed to leas- ing, has to be looked at with an eye to serving beginning farmers as well. "There has to be some middle ground on regula- tion." Forrest said if owner- ship of land is a require- ment for a livestock opera- Aigior concerns: r . n •and teeth" tion, the financial burden to a person starting up. who has to buy quota and land, will make it almost impossible to get funding. Vorstenbosch explained that OFEC's plan is designed to be used as a tool for farmers to ensure water quality and soil health is preserved while minimizing odor associat- ed with manure and main- taining farm productivity. As part of the plan farmers will he required to keep records of manure use on their land for a period of six years, which will not only provide farmers with a working tool but it will also pro- vide the community with a history of the land's use. The biggest concerns expressed in Brussels, said Vorstenbosch, were "policing and teeth." However, he said if municipalities tack the nutrient management plan on to any building permit, that along with adherence to provincial minimum distance standards will go a long way to meeting all rural and agricultural con- cerns. "A management plan is only as good as the person running the plan," he said, adding that despite the lack of formal policing in the plan, he said peer pres- sure and local reporting to county groups would expose anyone creating problems. Vorstenbosch noted that Perth County has an Agricultural Review Committee in place, which is prepared to deal with complaints regarding farm practices. The province provides a similar com- plaint handling procedure through its Farming and Food Production Protection Act (Bill 1461 and OFEC states that it is encouraging OMAFRA to include the nutrient man- agement plan in the Act. "Every farmer should have a nutrient manage- ment plan for his own edu- cation as well as profit," said Vorstenbosch, "but there will always be one or two per cent who don't use good farming practices no matter what." "We (OFEC) are trying to do this gracefully," he added, "but if problems persist with a particular individual. eventually the Ministry . of the Environment will get involved and charges could be laid." Vorstenbosch, second vice-president of ROMA and a pork producer, said input from these meetings will be used to make final 'revisions to the nutrient management plan before it is taken on a series of 17 half-day workshops across the province. The plan will be sub- mitted to Minister' of Agriculture Noble Villeneuve within two months, said Vorstenbosch, and if the strategy meets with min- istry approval municipali- ties will have a sound pro- gram to integrate with any future hylaws implement- ed to deal with manure concerns. The closest Workshops in the region will he at • see 'Meetings', page 6A Yi ' A- F In H3 'RfBUTORS r ��c•. GRAND BEND Hwy. 83 E. (2 miles from the water plant) 10Fr5 8:30 - 5, 238-2110 •