Behind the Lines - December 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
No-till has become a standard practice on many Ontario farms, saving producers both time and money as they make fewer passes in the spring and fall. So it came as a surprise recently when no-till and its conservation tillage derivatives came under fire from the scientific community for encouraging phosphorus to enter streams from farm drains.
Field Editor Mary Baxter looks at this story from the points of view of farmers, on both sides of the Great Lakes, and from scientists as well. The Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario is working with scientists to get more solid evidence on what is happening on farms. Baxter's story starts on page 10.
We live in a land of abundance, and we will be thinking of that especially as we approach the Christmas season. But abundance is not there for all of us.
Food banks were started in the 1980s as a solution to what was deemed to be a short-term problem. But that's not how it turned out, as senior staff editor Don Stoneman notes in a story starting on page 28.
Food bank usage in Ontario has increased 28 per cent since the recession hit in 2007-2008. "We think the number (of hungry people) is much higher than that. Not everyone in need visits food banks," says Carolyn Stewart, a top official with the Ontario Association of Food Banks.
Stewart says a survey taken last March also determined that clients are using food banks for longer periods of time as it becomes more difficult to find a job. "This has been the worst year thus far," Stewart says. "It's very worrisome from our point of view."
Stoneman looked at creative solutions that some farmers and farm groups have taken to address the growing problem. It's worth noting that there is no shortage at food banks during the Christmas giving season. It's another matter as winter wears on into January and February.
For a national and international perspective on hunger and food banks, you will find Barry Wilson's overview in The Hill on page 44.
As we were going to press, we learned of the latest development in the legal battle Corrado and Concetta Bartolo are waging. In our October issue, we told you about their plan to turn a property they bought in the Township of Uxbridge into a productive farm by adding hundreds of thousands of tons of fill. The township says the Bartolos are running a commercial fill operation and passed a retroactive bylaw requiring them to have a fill permit. In June, a Superior Court Justice ordered them to cease operations and return the farm to its original condition.
Ottawa lawyer Terrance Green appealed the Superior Court decision and applied for a hearing before the Normal Farm Practices Protection Board (NFPPB). A favourable board decision, he claimed, would trump the Superior Court of Justice ruling, Not so says the NFPPB. In a decision released in early November, they ruled: "On the basis of this ruling of the Superior Court of Justice, the Board denies your application."
No word yet on the Bartolos' next move, but in our earlier story Corrado noted the battle was exacting a heavy financial toll. BF
ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN