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Farm plans change hands

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Published: September 10, 2009

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After helping 5,600 producers develop environmental farm plans

across the province, the Farm Stewardship Association of Manitoba

(FSAM) is no more.

The associations’ board of directors voted to disband FSAM earlier

this year after Manitoba Agriculture decided it would take over

delivery of farm plans as part of Growing Forward, a joint program of

federal and provincial governments.

The initiative officially came to an end March 31, 2009, but during

its six years of existence, the program paid out $38 million in

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incentives to more than 8,400 projects across the province.

Although FSAM was a success, there remains a feeling of loss for

Herb Goulden and Terry Johnson, two Manitobans who helped found the

association in 2003.

“(FSAM’s) mandate was to deliver the environmental farm plan program

in partnership with PRFA and MAFRI (Manitoba Agriculture),” said

Goulden, a wildlife biologist who works with the Manitoba Habitat

Heritage Corporation. “We built this thing on the fact that a producer

would assess his own risks.”

“And he would do it (make changes) within his own fiscal capacity,”

added Johnson, deputy mayor of Virden and loans officer for the Sunrise

Credit Union.

The idea for the program, Goulden and Johnson explained, came about

in a hotel room after they participated in a Manitoba Rural Adaptation

Council (MRAC) board meeting in the early 2000s.

“There were a group of us sitting around … saying what is something

useful we can do for producers out there and the landscape,” Goulden

said.

After MRAC funded a consultation process, including focus groups

with farmers, the Farm Stewardship Association of Manitoba was

officially created in the summer of 2003.

Goulden said the program’s educational workshops won over even the most ornery of farmers.

“A hard bitten old farmer would walk in there, with hair up on the

back of his neck. But about halfway through the first workshop, he

would start nodding his head,” Goulden noted.

He said the program was popular.

“We had guys driving from Melita over to Portage la Prairie just to

get to a workshop, because they had missed it in their local area.”

The FSAM program provided farmers with knowledge and tools so they could design a plan suited for their farm.

Government provided financial incentives for producers willing to replace old fuel tanks or install off-site watering systems.

Goulden and Johnson said FSAM was a respected third party and the

producer could trust that disclosed information would remain

confidential.

The Manitoba government announced it would take over environmental

farm programming in the province, citing potential breaches of

confidentiality as a concerns.

“We wanted an honest evaluation by the producer of his environmental

liabilities and we got that from a lot of producers,” said Ian Wishart,

president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.

The concern is that farmers might not be as open if they fear that

an inspector will show up at the farmgate to enforce a regulation.

Johnson agreed that producers have more faith in a third party than in provincial bureaucracy.

“It’s a fragile relationship that farmers have with government and it’s easily broken,” Johnson said.

Despite their concerns, Johnson and Goulden are optimistic the new provincial program will make a difference.

“We just hope it works for farmers,” Goulden said.

About the author

Robert Arnason

Robert Arnason

Reporter

Robert Arnason is a reporter with The Western Producer and Glacier Farm Media. Since 2008, he has authored nearly 5,000 articles on anything and everything related to Canadian agriculture. He didn’t grow up on a farm, but Robert spent hundreds of days on his uncle’s cattle and grain farm in Manitoba. Robert started his journalism career in Winnipeg as a freelancer, then worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and Fernie, BC. Robert has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Manitoba and a diploma in LSJF – Long Suffering Jets’ Fan.

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