Environmental farm plans can present opportunities for farmers and ranchers
as they search for better ways to tend to their surroundings. A tour in the Calgary area promoting beneficial management practices demonstrated how three families have improved the environment.
Scott Farms, Crossfield
Earl Scott had to be coaxed to attend an environmental farm plan workshop but he was glad he did and came away with good ideas to improve his farm near Crossfield, Alta.
“It was one of the best courses as far as I am concerned that I could take,” he said.
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Scott raises 150 purebred red and black Angus cattle and has a small feedlot where he and his son custom feed 300 dairy bulls through an agreement with a local genetics company.
In the past, cows were wintered around the corrals on the farmstead site. The new plan moved them onto 180 acres of stubble for swath grazing where the cows are controlled with electric fences and newly purchased portable windbreaks.
Scott owns almost no farm equipment, preferring to have work custom done.
Turning the cows into the swathes makes them spread their own
manure.
“I want to swath graze here because I might as well fertilize with my own cattle,” he said.
“It was the easiest thing going as far as feeding cows. I don’t know why more people don’t do this.”
The environmental programs helped pay for four portable
windbreaks that can be moved into any configuration for weather
protection.
The windbreaks are about three metres high and have 3.5 metre wide iron crosspieces on the bottom to keep them from blowing over. They cost $880 each, and Scott was able to apply for funding to cover some
expenses.
Improving a wintering site is 50 percent cost shared to a maximum of $15,000.
Ken Chitwood, Airdrie
As the city of Airdrie, Alta., edged closer to Ken Chitwood’s property, he grew concerned about the effect of runoff from his 1,750 acre farm.
Water from wetlands and a nearby stream travels across his farm and through the city, eventually ending up in the Bow River upstream from Calgary.
He decided to make changes and attended an environmental farm workshop.
His original idea was to build a berm around the corrals but when that did not seem feasible, he and his family decided to move the yard and livestock pens five kilometres east near a municipal airport where further development is not expected.
With help from various agencies including Alberta Agriculture, the Municipal District of Rocky View and the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, he has started a renovation project that could take up to five years by the time the family home is rebuilt.
So far granaries have been moved and new pens for his 160 cattle have been completed, said Murray Green, beneficial management specialist with the municipal district.
Landscaping the new site and building pens has added $36,000 to the final bill. As well, costs to excavate and build a new yard are higher than expected because Chitwood is competing with construction projects from Airdrie and Calgary.
Plans also had to be changed because Chitwood discovered a pipeline easement across his land. When asked to sign agreements for pipelines, farmers need to think about their placement so as not to affect future development, said Green.
The new area will have improved wetlands and perennial forages will be seeded.
Adding shelterbelts and a berm on the east side of the new farm should reduce noise from a compressor station next door.
The Canada-Alberta farm stewardship program cost shares up to half the costs of relocating livestock pens.
Klassen Farms, Linden
Gene and John Klassen wanted to control runoff and reduce the manure volume from their 1,400 head feedlot near Linden, Alta.
After taking the course they opted for composting and bought a $110,000 machine from Illinois for aerating and turning windrows. It is equipped with a water tank to add moisture when the piles become too dry.
They started with 200 tandem loads of mostly bedding pack from the pens and piled the manure over straw into 12 windrows on July 12. The 90 metre long windrows were turned 30 times and were reduced to six rows of fine, black compost that they plan to spread on their crop land.
“It takes a lot of time; a little bit more than I bargained for,” said John Klassen.
Through the program they also receive a GPS improved cropping system for spraying to reduce chemical burn on overlapping rows.
Composting is eligible for a cost share of 30 percent to a maximum funding of $15,000.
