The
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food's (OMAF) contribution to
the National Soil Conservation Program (NSCP) was stewardship
practices funded by one year of the Land Stewardship Program (LSP).
This program provided grants for the adoption of conservation farming
practices that will enhance and sustain agricultural production and
improve soil resources and water management by:
reducing soil erosion and soil compaction,
-
restoring soil organic matter levels
and structure, and
minimizing potential for environmental contamination from agricultural practices.
OMAF provided:
-
FinancialAssistance for Erosion Control
Grants were provided to farmers to
adopt conservation practices on Ontario farmland. These practices will
enhance and sustain agricultural production as well as improve and
protect soil and water resources.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE consisted of
grants for:
Soil Building (Improvement and Maintenance) Conservation Machinery and Equipment Conservation Education (Technical Training)
| PROVINCIAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR EROSION CONTROL 1990-91 |
| Soil Building |
A-1 - Crop Rotation
A-2 - Residue and Crop Cover
A-3 - Trees
A-4 - Stewardship Lease |
$3,791,300
3,349,700
152,000
493,100 |
| Machinery and Equipment |
B-1 - Residue
Management Equipment Rental
B-2 - Residue Management Equipment
Modification and Purchase |
179,400
1,030,300 |
| Education Courses |
C-1 - Conservation Training |
25,900 |
A-1 Crop Rotation
To encourage the planting of forage grasses and legumes or plow down crops
in rotation on soils showing signs of soil degradation and erosion, assistance
was available to improve soil structure.
The same assistance was available to establish buffer strips on previously
tilled land adjacent to streams, watercourses and field boundaries. Up to 30%
of the applicants previously tilled acreage qualified. The grant rates for perennial
and annual forage grasses, legumes and plow down crops are found in the
county/district variable rate table.
VARIABLE RATE TABLE
| COUNTIES/DISTRICTS |
RATES-DOLLARS PER ACRE |
| Establishment Year |
No Off-Farm Sales |
OR |
With Off-Farm Sales |
| Seeding |
Over-
wintering |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
|
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
| Group I |
Kent, Essex, Lambton,
Elgin, Oxford, Middlesex |
$15 |
$15 |
$60 |
$70 |
OR |
$25 |
$35 |
| Group II |
Huron, Perth, Brant,
Haldimand-Norfolk, Hamilton-Wentworth, Niagara, Waterloo |
15 |
15 |
50 |
60 |
OR |
20 |
30 |
| Group III |
Peel, Stormont,
Dundas, Glengarry, Bruce, Prescott, Ottawa-Carleton, Grenville,
Durham, York, Halton, Victoria, Northumberland, Wellington,
Russell |
15 |
15 |
40 |
50 |
OR |
15 |
25 |
| Group IV |
Peterborough, Simcoe,
Frontenac, Lanark, Lennox-Addington, Grey, Leeds, Hastings,
Dufferin, Renfrew, Prince Edward, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Rainy
River, Temiskaming, Nipissing, Haliburton, Manitoulin, Cochrane,
Thunder Bay, Muskoka, Kenora, Algoma |
15 |
15 |
30 |
40 |
OR |
15 |
20 |
A-2 Residue and Crop Cover
To increase residue an applicant was paid
a grant of $20 per acre when 20% of the surface area for each acre is
covered with residue from the previous crop immediately after planting.
Up to 30% of the applicants tilled acreage from the previous year qualified.
A-3 Trees
To promote tree planting, grants were available to: retire fragile lands, encourage
long term commitment to agri-forestry including intercropping of trees with commercial
crops or to diversify crop production.
To reforest five or more tilled acres, a grant of up to $220 per acre was available
to cover costs of establishment of a forest species. A grant of $100 per acre per year
for the balance of the program was available to cover the cost of a well
maintained planting.
For shelterbelts, windbreaks and plantings under five acres or intercropping with
commercial crops, a rebate of purchase price and planting costs was spread over two
years-65% during the planting year and 35% in the second year for well
maintained plantings. Maximum claim for stock and planting costs was not
to exceed reasonable market value of planting 3 year old nursery stock.
A-4 Stewardship Lease
To encourage landlords to require tenants
to farm their land under a land stewardship plan, a grant of $10 per
acre was paid to the landowner when the land was leased under an
approved minimum land stewardship lease. The maximum grant available was
$3000 per applicant.
B-1 Residue Management Equipment Rental
To encourage the use and adoption of
residue management equipment, grants of 80% of the 1987 rental or custom
rates for residue management equipment were available. This covered up
to a maximum of $3000 per applicant.
B-2 Residue Management Equipment
Modification and Purchase
To assist in modification of existing
equipment to handle residue management or to purchase equipment for
residue management, a grant of two-thirds of the cost to as maximum of
$3000 was available per applicant.
C-1 Conservation Training Courses
To support training, assistance was
available for participants in conservation farming training courses as
approved by OMAF.
A grant was available to cover up to 100%
of tuition, 80% of travel costs and $50 per day for the applicant's time
upon successfully completing the course.
To ensure the proper set up and operation
of conservation tillage equipment on an applicant's premises, assistance
was available from a qualified farmer or technician.
The grant covers 90% of the cost up to
$200 per day for each type of equipment to a maximum two days per type
of equipment to a maximum of six days per applicant.
A Land Stewardship Course Manual was
produced that outlined the materials to be included in any educational
course offered.
-
Research
Research projects relating to
stewardship practices were solicited by OMAF and funded through the
Agricultural Institute of Ontario. One third of the projects were
OMAF's contribution to NSCP. (See Appendix G for details)
RESEARCH was funded by OMAF through a Land
Stewardship Research Fund administered by the Agricultural Research
Institute of Ontario (ARIO). The Land
Stewardship Research Program (LSP) is intended to assist in
achieving the goals of the overall NSCP by adding to the current base
of knowledge and by assisting extension staff with recommendations and
farmers in the adoption of conservation practices. Total funds
available over the three year period is $2.8 million of which
one-third is matching funds for NSCP i.e. $929,200.
RESEARCH AREAS consisted of the following:
-
Practical, cost-effective
stewardship cropping systems to improve and maintain soil
structure through crop rotation, crop cover during critical soil
movement periods and residue management. Projects included
practical cost-effective alternatives to monoculture through such
practices as ground cover at appropriate periods of the year when
there is potentially a high incidence of soil movement/structure
through crop and tillage selection and management practices,
nutrient management and organic amendments for a wide range of
soil types and climatic conditions.
-
Options for marginal and lowland
areas to encourage farmers to take cropland (especially Classes
III and IV) out of production and to return that land base to
pasture and/or woodlot, and considering the length of time needed
to establish the latter, the possibilities of wide-row spacing of
hardwood species intercropped with cash crops could provide the
best of both alternatives.
Many parcels of land in Ontario,
characteristically dry in the summer months, are often too wet to
provide optimum conditions for planting in spring.
Projects included the need to
explore alternatives for improving productivity of such marginal
areas and to study the economic and agronomic viability of such
operations.
-
Streambank stabilization and buffer
strips to stabilize watercourse banks (e.g., permanent,
intermittent, drainage ways) is of prime interest if we are to
properly and adequately control soil erosion by water.
Projects included the study not
only to the various vegetative species (e.g., grasses, shrubs,
trees) but also such parameters as accessibility routes for
watercourse maintenance, maintenance equipment and techniques and
design criteria for the bank areas.
-
Windbreaks and Shelterbelts to
assess the various parameters of windbreak plantings, including
economics, species, spacing, harvestability of shelterbeds (e.g.,
Christmas trees) and impact on wildlife habitat and crop
productivity.
Projects included comparative
documentation on the survival and growth rates of bare root
seedlings versus container stock seedlings to determine if demand
can be met by container stock.
-
Extension
Twelve new staff worked with 14
existing soil conservation advisors at OMAF field offices to counsel
farmers on land stewardship practices, administer grants under the LSP
and provide support for the NSCP.
THE EXTENSION program consisted of the
equivalent of 12 Soil Conservation Advisors who were hired and with
the existing Soils and Crops Specialists assisted in the delivery of
the federal and provincial programs. Ontario provided field staff for
erosion control, conservation cropping, soil quality monitoring and
the stewardship ethic for the duration of the NSCP. These staff
resources were distributed across the province to maximize their
effectiveness in delivering the combined program.
-
Administration
An annual grant was given to the
Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) to cover costs
to establish and administer committees in each county/district. These
local committees reviewed and recommended projects for funding and
hired part-time staff to assist in promoting and implementing the
program.
The Ontario
Soil and Crop Improvement Association administered the OMAF
component of NSCP through local committees in each count/district in
the province. The committees reviewed and recommended projects for
funding and worked with the Soil Conservation Advisors to promote and
implement the program.
Terms
Projects were funded on a
county/district basis by the OMAF. Expenditures were based on soil
improvements and water quality enhancement as outlined in the
applicants Land Stewardship Inventory and Action Plan, a farm profile
accompanying the application.
Funds were allocated on a row crop acre
basis. An applicant could apply for up to a grant maximum of $30,000.
The Inventory and Action Plan detailed
past land management practices, existing problems and planned future
management practices that indicate a new and long term land
stewardship approach is being adopted.
ACTUAL PROVINCIAL EXPENDITURES
| Activity |
1989-90 |
1990-91 |
1991-92 |
1992-93 |
TOTAL |
| Research |
0 |
929,200 |
0 |
0 |
929,200 |
| Extension |
0 |
468,700 |
100,000 |
100,000 |
668,700 |
Financial Assistance
Soil Building
Machinery and Equipment
Education Courses
Administration Costs |
0
0
0
0 |
7,786,100
1,209,700
25,900
590,400 |
0
0
0
0 |
0
0
0
0 |
9,612,100 |
| Sub-Total Provincial |
|
11,010,000 |
100,000 |
100,000 |
11,210,000 |
Created: 09-13-1996
Last Revised:
Sunday, May 08, 2011 02:43:01 PM |
