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NEWS RELEASES - 2004
Preventive Maintenance for Watersheds - September 22, 2004
Prepared by Nancy Tilt for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association
Protecting surface water and groundwater quality is an important issue for Ontario producers. Increasing levels of regulation under the federal Fisheries and provincial Nutrient Management Acts bring the issue home on a regular basis. Holly Evans, Environmental Technician with the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA), advises, "Now is the time to tackle potential problems before they develop into major water quality issues."
Over the last three years, CRCA has accessed financial support for water quality improvement initiatives through the Agricultural Environmental Stewardship Initiative (AESI). AESI offers grants at 50–75% of costs up to $5000 for Best Management Practices that will improve water quality on the farm, as well as within the watershed.
AESI is funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and administered through the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) and the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association is reporting on the project on behalf of AAC.
Frontenac County, north of Kingston, lies within CRCA's jurisdiction. It is a land of rivers and lakes, shallow soils over bedrock, and livestock farms—beef, sheep, some dairy and hogs.
Kevin Bovey farms land drained by a tributary of Collins Creek near Latimer. He heard about AESI at a Frontenac Soil and Crop Improvement Association meeting, when Evans presented the details of CRCA's Healthy Watershed Program. He produces organic beef, managing a 90-head cow-calf operation on about 400 acres, 200 of which he owns.
The creek crosses a corner of his land beside his farm buildings. Cattle had had full access to the creek and small pasture on the other side, resulting in unstable stream banks, increased sedimentation and decreased water quality.
Through AESI, Bovey established an alternate water source for his cattle, restricted their access to the creek with fencing, and retired a 2-acre buffer along the creek.
"It's a challenge finding workable alternatives for water sources in this type of terrain," Evans explains. "Alternate water sources work best where there's a year-round flowing stream and some gradient." Such is not the case here. The land is generally flat, and the creek's summer base flows are naturally very low. Even with a reasonably forested watershed, it's just the way it is. So Bovey's alternate water source draws from his well. The waterer sits on a concrete pad in the barnyard near his buildings. It has a double drinking reservoir with an electric heating element that kicks in when temperatures hit the freezing point.
Every new venture has its challenges, and this one was no exception. "Providing water for livestock in winter is always challenging," Bovey explains. "My waterer's good, but not fool-proof. I've had to repair and modify the heating element to keep it operating under extremely cold weather conditions. You change things and adapt." As part of the installation he included a hydrant and an extra electrical outlet. He uses the hydrant to fill a 300 gallon stock tank to provide extra water in the summer so more cattle can drink at one time.
Page wire fencing with a one-strand electric fence on the barnyard side keeps cattle out of the creek. Its placement 20 ft from top of stream bank buffers the effects of barnyard run-off. He's allowing the retired parcel on both sides of the stream to naturalize. "It's at that weedy stage right now," Bovey notes," but I'm planning to plant trees as a future windbreak." His project location beside the road makes it an ideal demonstration site.
Bovey doesn't intend to rest on his laurels with this project, which he's dubbed Phase 1. To ensure his operation has minimum impact on Collins Creek water quality, he's already planning Phase 2— additional fencing and a buffer of retired land along the watercourse immediately upstream from the road. Fencing downstream in a more remote part of his pasture constitutes Phase 3.
Near Inverary, further upstream in the headwaters of Collins Creek, Ron Taite of Inverness Farms has undertaken a project to help protect groundwater quality. He also produces organic beef with about 60 head of cattle and works 175 acres.
Taite explains, "My cattle can get water at the barn, but I wanted a water source halfway when the cattle are on pasture at the back of the farm." With no watercourse on the property, but with groundwater close to the surface, his solution was a dug pond, 50 x 110 ft, spring-fed and about 41/2 ft deep when full. It has a 20-ft buffer surrounded by electric fence.
"The next step is to construct a berm around the pond inside the fencing to direct surface water flow away from the pond," Taite adds. This will help ensure clean water for his cattle and limit any impact on groundwater quality. Taite plans to seed the buffer within the fencing and eventually plant trees.
A solar-powered floating pump fills a 300 gallon stock tank from which the cattle drink. The solar panel and associated batteries, which also feed the electric fencing around the pond, are protected by a triangle of steel gates. The stock tank is situated on dry, bare ground at present. A concrete pad is an option, if needed.
During the winter months cattle drink from a heated waterer next to his barn. The solar panel and steel gate triangle are dismantled during this time, but the fencing remains.
Taite is enthusiastic about his project. "I found the EFP (Environmental Farm Plan) process helpful in looking at the environmental impacts of my operation and developing a plan for dealing with those issues." A former high school teacher, Taite "retired" to farming and considers this a labour of love, adding, "We have to be vigilant about stewardship."
"There's still time for others to get involved in CRCA's Healthy Watershed program which has been extended to December 2004," notes Evans. Nineteen projects have been completed to date and a further ten approved. Eligible projects include buffer strips and windbreaks, alternate watering sources, livestock fencing restriction, surface water run-off control, stream bank stabilization and permanent land retirement (one payment of $300/acre). A deemed-appropriate EFP is a prerequisite.
For further information, contact Holly Evans at the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, 613 546 4228, ext. 244 or by e-mail:
hevans@cataraquiregion.on.ca
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For more information and photographs, contact Andrew Graham, Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association; Tel: 519-826-4214 or e-mail:
oscia@ontariosoilcrop.org
