Feature Article December 11, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeFarmers Wary of Ministry of the Environment
A decision by the McGuinty government to bring compliance with the year-old Nutrient Management Act under the purview of the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has profoundly disappointed Ontario farmers, according to Ron Bonnett, the President of the Ontario Farmers Association (OFA).
Until now, compliance with the Act has been handled by inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture, who have developed a good working relationship with the farmers, according to Storrington farmer Ron Sleeth, who heads up the Frontenac Federation of Agriculture, an affiliate of the OFA that represents 430 farm families in the Frontenac County, most of whom reside in South Frontenac township.
Sleeth told the News our concern is that farmers relate well to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The Ministry of the Environment conjures up an entirely different image, and that is not an image that is necessarily friendly to farming.
The Nutrient Management Act was passed in 2002. It set out to provide provisions for the development of strong new standards for all land-applied materials containing nutrients, according to the Ministry of the Environment. The MoE also says the objective of nutrient management is to use nutrients (mainly nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) wisely for optimum economic benefit, while minimizing impact on the environment. The sources of nutrients on farms are manure and chemical fertilizers.
Sleeth said the Frontenac Federation and others worked hard convincing the previous government to make changes to the Nutrient Management Act to make it possible for small-scale farmers to comply.
When the Act first came out, it was totally unworkable. It was going to put virtually every farm in our region out of business. We lobbied the Ministry of Agriculture, and a number of changes were made that made the Act more workable, Sleeth said.
In an Open Letter to the Hon. Steven Peters, Minister of Agriculture and Food, and Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of the Environment, OFA president Ron Bonnet pointed out how the lack of notification to the farming community about the change is a sore point.
The announcement came as a complete surprise to Ontario farm leaders. Given the commitment that the farm community have had to the nutrient management process over the years, it was disrespectful to make such an announcement without first providing a full explanation to farm leaders.
Ministry of the Environment spokesman Mark Rabbior said the change would not be as great as farm leaders seem to think it will be.
This is not a huge change, he said, it is being done partly in order to comply with the recommendations of the OConner report [into the Walkerton tragedy], and also because if we have both compliance and enforcement under one Ministry, we will have a more effective way of ensuring the environment is protected.
At this time, the timeline for the changeover is vague. Mark Robbior said the MoE does not at present have people available and trained to do the work that has been done by Ministry of Agriculture inspectors.
At a meeting last week, an inspector with the Ministry of Agriculture informed a group of farmers that she would now be working under the MoE, but would not be changing the way she does her job.
Still, the farm community is nervous. Ron Bonnet of the OFA is seeking clarification from both provincial Ministries on six technical issues around the way Nutrient Management will proceed. Among them is the issue of funding. Bonnet asks Will the Ontario Government commit funding in the 2004 budget to assist existing farm operations in making necessary improvements?
A funding commitment from the McGuinty government could smooth over any ruffled feathers resulting from this decision on Nutrient Management for a community that is reeling from low cattle prices and is nervous about how it will be impacted by the pending increase in electricity costs.
For farmers in Frontenac County, having the MoE become the lead Ministry over the Nutrient Management brings back the animosity felt towards the Act when it first came about.
We dont have large farms in this region, Sleeth said, and it is the large factory farms that caused the Act to come into being, but we have to deal with it anyway. And we have always had a good relationship with our neighbours, who do not consider us a threat in any way. They are happy to live in the vicinity of farms.
