By Larry Davis, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Every April, countries around the world mark Earth Day – an excellent and vital opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of caring for and protecting our environment.
As farmers, we often like to say that every day is Earth Day on the farm, and while that sounds a bit cliched, it actually is very true. That’s because in raising livestock and growing crops of all kinds, farmers work very directly with the soil, the air, and the water every single day.
The weather is our constant companion and more than almost anything else, will influence the kind of year we’re going to have. Whether it’s too much or too little rain, temperatures that are hotter or colder than normal, or snow, ice and rain storms, it all impacts the quality and quantity of the products we’re able to produce on our farms.
I farm near Burford close to Brantford with my wife and son where we raise sheep and grow hay, corn, and soybeans as well as a biomass crop called miscanthus. I’m also a director on the board of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), where I’ve represented farmers in Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk counties since 1989.
Ontario farmers have been leading the way when it comes to environmental stewardship for more than 30 years. It was in the early 1990s when farm leaders came together through the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition to first develop a voluntary environmental assessment tool for use on-farm to help farmers identify possible environmental concerns and set realistic action plans to address them.
I was part of the early committee as a representative from OFA and it was a proud moment when we were able to launch the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP). The program, which includes cost-share funding opportunities provided by government to support farmers in making environmental improvements, is still going strong today, a successful model of farmer and industry collaboration that has since spread Canada-wide.
The OFA continues to be involved in the EFP, and we have just participated in the latest update and overhaul of the program, making sure environmental perspectives are balanced with the practicalities of modern farming so that the program continues to be impactful and successful.
Water is also a top-of-mind issue. Canada is home to 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water, a critical resource that we have to prioritize and protect – both as a country and as farmers by using sustainable farming practices.
The OFA regularly deals with resolutions from our membership focused on water issues, from managing access to protecting quality, and it’s an important part of our advocacy work as a farm organization. All across Ontario, farmers are part of local source water protection committees and involved with municipalities, Conservation Authorities and other bodies to support environmental stewardship.
On our own farm, I’ve been focused on the environment throughout my entire career as a farmer. I believe we are land keepers for the future, so I have been making improvements so that I can leave the farm to the next generation in better condition than it was when I took it over.
The soil on our farm is vulnerable to wind and water erosion, and switching from fully working the land by plowing, for example, to barely disturbing it by using minimum and no tillage approaches has been a game changer. I also use livestock manure as a natural source of fertilizer and try to keep a crop growing at all times to keep the soil covered and protected from erosion.
I’m also a strong believer in talking to young people about agriculture and the environment so they understand the importance of farming and how farmers help protect the air, soil and water.
As I write this, I’ve just come back from my 30th year volunteering with Bite of Brant, an annual agricultural education program for Grade 5 students in our area that gives them a fun and hands-on way of learning where their food comes from. My topic this year? Appropriately enough – soil health!
For more information, contact:
Tyler Brooks
Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-994-2578
comms@ofa.on.ca