New environmental laws?

[cowman]

I was reading in the paper that the NRCB or the other manure "police"(forgot their name) are concerned that all the dumb farmers aren't really up on their latest rules and laws.
They raised the amount of manure to 500 tonnes before you need to get a license or something. They say 360 feeder cattle will produce 500 tonnes.
Their biggest concern seemed to be the real dumb cow/calf people! Apparently after Jan.1/05 you can't be feeding your cows within 30 meters of a body of water! Now being one of the dumbies I'm not quite sure what they mean by a body of water, but whatever? I sure don't intend to change any practices just because some little beurocrat had nothing better to do than think up some arbritary number when he got bored shooting the breeze around the water cooler.

[smcgrath76]

cowman you are referring to the Agricultural Operations Practices Act legislation which is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Board who are NOT manure police !
The legislation was developed through wide public consultation including industry, municipalities, health regions and environmental groups. Seasonal feeding and bedding sites must not be located within 30 metres of a water body ( creek, stream etc.) or must build an interceptor ( berm) or sc**** the manure off the area while the ground is still frozen. All this is just plain common sense. I am shocked to think that producers are still feeding their cattle close to creeks, rivers etc. We don't seem to like legislation and yet we do boneheaded things in full view of the public and wonder why the envrionmental groups get up in arms at our industry. Its all about each of us doing our part to ensure that we mitigate any negative impact our operation may have on the environment and our neighbours.

[cakadu]

Emrald, aren't things like fertilizer also going to have to be kept 30 meters from a water body as well?

Traditionally, we did choose our farmsteads close to the water source, but we are finding that it is definitely not the best practice anymore, hence the regulations.

Under the Enviromental Farm Plan, you assess the potential for risks that you may have on the farm and then state those actions that will help to mitigate or eliminate the potential sources of risk on the farm. Once you have a reviewed Farm Plan, you are eligible to apply for funding to carry out the components of your plan.

There are some 30 Beneficial Management Practices that will be funded under the Canada Alberta Farm Stewardship Program. Each of these practices has an allowable 30% or 50% of the costs that will be covered. Each BMP also has a cap on how much you can get funded in each category and a producer is eligible to apply for up to $30,000 over the term of the program. The program has not been launched as yet, but will be available at some stage.

Cowman, water is always a downstream problem because it flows away from you. The thing of it is that you are generally downstream from someone too and at some stage someone will be the recipient of all that flows downstream. Far better to be proactive and safe than any alternatives.