Behind the Lines - November 2015

Sunday, November 8, 2015

The states bordering on Lake Erie and the province of Ontario have engaged to clean up the lake, following that summer of 2014 when algae bloom poisoned the tap water for half a million people. In a story starting on page 12, writer Don Stoneman explains that, on the Ontario side, the Thames River is the first target for that cleanup, along with the small rivers and creeks flowing into Lake Erie from the Leamington area.

But don't be smug if you farm elsewhere in the province. Algae are a problem, albeit as more of a nuisance, in the central and eastern basins of the shallowest of the Great Lakes. And once scientists determine how much phosphorus the Grand River watershed contributes, plans for cutting those levels will be made. We've devoted a large space in this issue of Better Farming to these environmental challenges, because they are going to critical for most farmers.

The Americans already have plans underway. Last April 2, Ohio imposed a state-wide ban on winter spreading of manure. Ontario has a de facto winter spreading ban because large farms are regulated under the Nutrient Management Act. Might smaller farmers be next?

It's not just manure. There is clear evidence that much of the phosphorus that ends up in Lake Erie is washed off fields during storm events when there is no crop on the fields in southwestern Ontario, a sobering thought for farmers who have been unable or unwilling to plant winter wheat because of a late fall or perhaps price considerations.

Also in the United States, the worst phosphorus-emitting urban wastewater treatment plants are being targeted for upgrades. Don't count on that happening in Ontario, when the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change maintains that the wastewater facilities it regulates in southern Ontario are all at the highest standard and are low emitters of phosphorus, even when there are sewage spills and bypasses.

Better Farming obtained the ministry's database of sewage spills and bypasses for all of 2014 and the first half of 2015 and the Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant in Windsor stood out. (Better Farming's annual sewage bypasses and spills report is available on our website at www.betterfarming.com) The story on that plant and why the environment ministry says sewage plants are not an issue, even when it is untreated sewage that is released into waterways such as the Detroit River and hence Lake Erie in the event of a storm or a power outage, can be found on page 30. Conversations we have had with farmers indicate they are not convinced that their practices are to blame.

We've also published examples of solutions that crop and livestock farmers can take to heart.  

And last but not least Crop Scene Investigation is back for another season. If you know what happened to Wendel's winter wheat you could win a wireless weather station. This month's mystery unfolds on page 34. BF

ROBERT IRWIN & DON STONEMAN