Focus On The Environment

Farmers in the Ridgetown area banded together, negotiated a profit-sharing agreement with the company and are generally happy with the result

by MIKE MULHERN

There’s an 11,500-hectare wind farm in the Ridgetown area that shares profit even with neigh-bouring farmers who do not have a tower on their property. Maybe that’s why, after a year of operation, there is only a whisper of opposition.

It all started in 2005-2006, when three different wind energy companies began to approach farmers about the possibility of building a wind farm in the area.

The province is throwing money at Ontario’s sagging sewage treatment plants, but some towns, like Tavistock, have to bear the cost alone

by DON STONEMAN

Getting bypasses from sewage treatment systems under control takes money. Just ask the officials in charge of systems in the town of Hawkesbury, on the Ottawa River, east of Canada’s capital, and Tavistock, a village on the Thames River north of Woodstock, in western Ontario.

A type of clay developed in Australia may provide a temporary solution to phosphorus finding its way into the Holland River. But growers have some questions about its possible effects on their fields

by MARY BAXTER

When the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority delayed a pilot program to remove phosphorus along a portion of the Holland Marsh’s interior canals until more testing could be done, Alex Makarenko was among those who expressed relief.
“There are too many questions,” says this carrot, celery and onion grower, who is also chair of the Holland Marsh Growers’ Association.

The Tiessen family of Leamington is investing millions to turn this tall perennial grass into fuel, animal bedding, fibre and everything from bedpans to a planting medium for greenhouses
 

by MIKE MULHERN

They started growing miscanthus in 2007 to have something sustainable and cost-effective to heat the 37 acres of greenhouses their family owns here. The more they looked at it, the more they realized they were dealing with a plant that could be used for a lot more than heat.

Of 16,000 applications received by Ontario Power Authority by July 2010, close to 14,500 were from farmers. It’s a perfect fit for them, says one installer

by MIKE MULHERN

Feed-in tariff (FIT) programs have been around since 1978, when then U.S. President Jimmy Carter implemented a FIT program because of a perceived energy crisis and concerns over pollution.

But, while Carter may have been first, it was the Germans who got it right, at least on the second pass. Their first law was enacted in 1990, then amended in 2000, and that was the beginning of effective FIT programs, including Ontario’s which looks very much like the German one. Another thing we have in common with Germany is that the most enthusiastic participants are farmers.

Compensation is just one of the questions that are bothering local Source Protection Committees and their farm members as they try to get a handle on what the Clean Water Act means for them


by DON STONEMAN

John Fitzgibbon has been going through the stack of reports from Source Water protection committees on his desk. But the co-chair of the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition still doesn’t have a handle on what the Clean Water Act is going to cost Ontario’s farming community.

Farmers maintain it’s not fair that a municipality can dump many litres of sewage from an overloaded
sewage treatment plant when farmers get hit hard for spilling a tanker of liquid manure on a roadside


by DON STONEMAN

In 2002, Environment Canada announced that Hay Bay Farms Inc. of Napanee and its manager, Mark Davis, would each be fined $5,000 for violating the Fisheries Act and ordered to pay $25,000 to the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority for fish habitat and stream rehabilitation.

Ontario Power Authority’s ability to strip away 80 per cent of the profits from new uses for biodigester byproducts isn’t helping to meet the province’s green energy targets


by PATRICIA GROTENHUIS

Large-scale biodigesters are the orphans of the renewable energy industry, says consultant Garry Fortune. The reason? Ontario Power Authority (OPA) is offering contracts with clauses that strip away the profits from the sale of byproducts not yet developed.

Bacteria, natural impurities and surface contaminants can all affect the quality of your well water. Make sure you know how often to test and what test package to use

by MARY JANE CONBOY

Water that is completely pure doesn’t exist for very long in nature. Water carries some of almost everything it touches. While falling as precipitation, it picks up gases, ions and dust particles from the atmosphere. When it reaches the earth, it flows over or through plant materials and surface layers of soil and rock, dissolving minerals.

Agriculture has reduced water use considerably through improved health, housing, breeding, feeding and management and our farmers will continue to provide leadership in water use

by JIM DALRYMPLE

With Canadian, North American and world populations expected to increase significantly over the next 20 to 30 years, the demand for fresh water will rise dramatically. This will escalate the need for water for food, fibre and fuel.