Without good land and water resources, farmers have nothing, say these Alberta producers
Rhonda Clarke-Gauthier and her husband Dan Gauthier have a focus. They are managing their 5,000 acre Peace River region farm under a productive zero-till cropping system. An Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) shows they are doing a lot of things in line with recommended practices.
But one thing stands out as a critical risk. Water.
"None of our practices are what you would consider high risk," says Rhonda, "but a number one concern for producers in this area is to protect the water supply. Many wells have high iron content, so many people rely on dugouts for household water, or are part of community water systems. Good quality water is one thing you don't take for granted."
The Gauthier farm is supplied with water through the Smoky River Water Co-op which distributes water from the Smoky River and Winagami Lake to communities and farms over a large area of the south Peace.
"An important aspect of completing an EFP is to ask yourself if there are areas where you can make improvements," she says. "Since we developed our plan in 2005, any time we plan any changes on the farm, we first ask how it affects the operation environmentally."
They know, for example, some fine tuning is needed over the next few years to improve fuel and fertilizer storage systems.
One small, but important change already completed was to change outlets on farm fuel tanks from the bottom of the tank to the top. With a pump attached to a proper fitting on the top of the tank, there is considerably less risk of leakage and ground contamination. They are also researching materials to surround the fuel storage site to contain fuel in the event of a spill. Ultimately they want to change the older style tanks to the new double-walled tanks mounted on the ground surrounded by a permanent secondary containment system.
They also plan to install concrete bases under fertilizer storage bins. They are using the proper epoxy-coated, hopper-bottom bins now, but the bins stand on steel legs, which means any spills from the bins could go directly onto the ground. Mounting the bins on a concrete pad not only improves bin stability, it makes proper cleanup of spills easier.
The Gauthiers' run the multi-generational grain and oilseed farm with Dan's brother and sister-in-law Victor and Ying Gauthier. Along with producing wheat, canola, and oats, nitrogen-fixing legumes such as yellow peas for the feed market and alfalfa for the export hay market are important components of their cropping system. The target is at least 25 percent of the farm seeded to nitrogen-fixing crops over the next few years.
"Using nitrogen-fixing crops helps reduce input costs, but it also reduces risk of having nutrients lost through runoff or leaching which could contaminate ground and surface water," says Rhonda.
"By including the legume crops, which fix nitrogen in the soil, in our rotation we are able to reduce fertilizer rates in crops over the two years following the legumes," says Dan. "This year we also brought red clover back into the rotation, producing it as a seed crop, but it is also a good nitrogen fixing crop."
In cropping operations, the Gauthiers have already adapted new technology to improve both fertilizer and pesticide application. A global positioning system (GPS) helps guide application equipment for no overlaps or misses, the field sprayer has already been equipped with low drift spray nozzles, and both the field sprayer and anhydrous fertilizer applicator are monitored by rate controllers.
"Another improvement I would like to make over the next couple years is an auto-spray shut off for both field sprayer and anhydrous applicator," says Dan. "The GPS helps guide the equipment, but if you do have an overlap, the auto shut-off automatically shuts down that section of the boom to eliminate overapplication of products.
Dan and Rhonda also hope to add a yield monitor to the combine to help fine-tune fertilizer application and adjust rates to apply fertilizer where it is most needed.
"You still have to go out and produce a crop economically, and hopefully, profitably," says Rhonda. "An EFP makes you step back and think 'is there a change I can make here that's going to help protect the environment, but perhaps also improves my overall efficiency?'
"One other bonus of having a completed plan is that it also makes it possible to apply for funds under the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program to cover part of the cost of many of those improvements."
After completing their EFP in 2005, Rhonda continued on with the EFP program as a program facilitator for the southern Peace region, working with local producers and organizing EFP training workshops.
"Two key elements of developing your own EFP is that first it asks you look at practices you're using now and makes you realize you are already doing many things right," she says. "By going through the manual and completing the process you also see where improvements can be made. These aren't necessarily things you need to do tomorrow, but they are improvements you can make over the coming months and years."
This article is reprintable with credit to AEFP as follows "Reprinted courtesy of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company; www.albertaEFP.com".
