Better Farming - December 2016

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28 Dig Deeper: Better Farming December 2016
ALUS
ing a meeting of interested communi-
ty members who need to show
“ongoing commitment” to ALUS, says
Reid.
One of the first ALUS projects
grew out of just such a stewardship
meeting, which took place in late
2001 in Norfolk County. By 2004, the
Norfolk group had published a
proposal for a pilot project, which
spawned further expansion in the
county. ALUS Canada is built on this
Norfolk model.
What makes the projects success-
ful, Reid says, is that they differ from
any other conservation program.
Farmers maintain their own land,
“which they know best.”
Challenges
ALUS has faced some difficulties as it
has expanded.
One such issue arises from the rela-
tionship between farmers, who own
the land, and ALUS, a third-party
group which requires access to it.
In March 2009, for example,
Ontario Pork sent representatives to
an ALUS Alliance meeting, and the
Ontario Pork environmental commit-
tee later considered the ALUS
program.
“Although the general principles of
the program were encouraging, the
Committee had some reservations,”
says a statement secured from Sam
Bradshaw, Ontario Pork’s environ-
mental communications specialist.
In particular, Ontario Pork was
concerned about “third party involve-
ment on producer land,” the state-
ment reads.
Other farmers might have similar
reservations when they consider
making a deal with ALUS. An ALUS
project, for example, allows ALUS
program coordinators or farm
liaisons to visit a farmer’s land to
monitor the projects. Usually the
visits occur once a year, Reid notes,
but other projects, like those at M&R
Orchards, require more frequent
inspections.
However, Dave Reid notes that
farmers need not worry about
working with ALUS. Farmers are not
being regulated by ALUS, he says,
since contracts are “voluntary, and
farmers can quit at any time.”
If farmers back out early in the
project, they would have to repay the
start-up costs to ALUS, but such
occasions are rare.
Additionally, since ALUS
community groups start up the
projects themselves, they have some
control over the system itself.
Reasons for success
Despite encountering such speed
bumps along the way, ALUS has
expanded as farmers notice the
benefits that the projects bring to
their communities.
Farmers often find that after the
instalment of an ALUS project on
their land they develop a new sense of
awareness of wildlife and the environ-
ment, Reid notes.
Even if they acquire just a one- or
two-acre project, farmers will undergo
a mindset change, and they will begin
ALUS redeveloped a historic wetland, which had previously been
filled in, at M&R Orchards. The wetland is now home to native flora
and fauna.
M&R Orchards has two pollinator strips (occupying 1.5 acres total)
developed by ALUS, on which native species can be found. This strip
features Indian grass, brown-eyed Susans and big bluestem,
among others.