Sustainable land use a priority for incoming OSCIA president

Thursday, September 26, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Northern dairy farmer Allan Mol knows first hand how improving the land can benefit his family’s farm.

Mol was acclaimed 2014 president of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association at the association’s annual summer directors’ meeting held at his farm near Thunder Bay. He farms in partnership with his wife, Margaret; his brother, Henry and his wife, Jenny; and their families. Together they operate Valley Centre Farms in Thunder Bay district where they grow alfalfa, barley, corn and soybeans on 450 acres and milk 85 cows.

photo: Allan Mol

Mol says when he and Henry began farming in the early 1980s they had a hard time growing enough feed for their cattle each year so they focused on improving their land. “I guess we were kind of forced to,” he says.

Mol says they’re focused on ensuring their land is managed sustainably. To him that means using the land in the best way possible, keeping it in good condition and “leaving it in better shape than what you got it in.”

The Mols started installing tile drainage in the 1980s. They used manure as their primary fertilizer source and that’s still the case today. Other land improvement techniques they use include crop diversification and rotation. The result is that now they are mainly self sufficient for most of their cattle’s feed.

Before improving their land, “buying feed and having high feed bills were really putting a crimp in our style,” he says, noting now they don’t buy many nutrients except for minerals and a few extra protein sources, such as canola meal. They grow soybeans for protein but “we don’t want to be limited to one protein source for the dairy cattle,” notes Mol, who takes over as association president after the annual meeting in February. He is currently the association’s first vice-president.

As for some of his priorities as president, Mol says it’s to ensure the work the association has been doing during the past few years continues, such as projects under Growing Forward 2.

Mol, who becomes president in the association’s 75th year, represents the districts of Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay. BF