Crop farmers have escaped much of the storm about water pollution that has rocked the prairie hog industry in its expansion.
But the head of Manitoba’s general farm organization thinks it is just a matter of time before grain growers have to fight the same criticism and face tougher water protection regulations.
“With all the emphasis on water quality in Lake Winnipeg, unfortunately (attention) will probably shift to primary agriculture and crop production,” said Keystone Agricultural Producers president David Rolfe.
“Sometimes, agriculture is such an easy target because we’re such a small part of the population.”
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Recently, a Winnipeg city councillor questioned the provincial government’s insistence that the city spend about $300 million to upgrade its water treatment facilities. Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend that money in the countryside, reducing agricultural water pollution, Gord Steeves wondered.
For decades, some scientists have attributed increasing levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in clean water sources to agriculture, with both poor livestock production methods and the overapplication of fertilizer identified as the main culprits.
In recent years the hog sector has taken the majority of body blows in the battle over farming’s impact on fresh water.
Proponents of large hog barn projects have sometimes been prevented from building because of perceived dangers to local water supplies.
In hog-heavy places like southern Manitoba and Iowa, increasing attention is focused on water quality.
The Manitoba government recently passed the Water Stewardship Act, which opens the door to greater regulation of polluting industries including farming.
The government assured the hog industry it wouldn’t be singled out for special scrutiny.
Rolfe said this is unlikely to reassure farmers, because it may simply mean all forms of agriculture are going to go under the microscope.
Focus on fertilizer
In Iowa, some water quality officials have said the state’s biggest source of water pollution is not the gigantic hog industry, but commercial fertilizers used to grow corn and soybeans.
They have suggested that regulations to control fertilizer application may be needed.
Some American government programs already pay farmers to protect riverbanks, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive areas, and Rolfe said similar programs could help in Canada.
“If we had the same incentives, we’d do the same thing,” said Rolfe.
“We’d like to go the opposite of the way we’re going, by minimizing inputs and minimizing our impact on the environment,” but low grain prices mean farmers can’t afford to set aside land.
Rolfe said he hopes any new pressure on farmers to limit their fertilizer use comes in the form of incentive programs, rather than penalties from new laws.
Whether the government uses the carrot or the stick, Rolfe expects grain farmers are going to have to get used to some of the same headaches felt by hog farmers.
“To this point, most of the focus (on water pollution) has been on livestock, but I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch of the imagination to see it move in the other direction.”
