Like many farmers, Bruce Quadrelli is regularly perplexed by government decisions.
As an example, Manitoba and federal governments used to offer a program to help producers develop an environmental farm plan.
The program was a huge success and popular with farmers, but in March 2008 the Canada-Manitoba Farm Stewardship program was cancelled. The program was extended for one more year, but all funding ended March 31, 2009.
It provided education and financial incentives for producers, provided they took action related to manure management, precision agriculture, riparian protection and other environmental practices.
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Quadrelli, who grows wheat and canola near Alexander, Man., used the rebate part of the program to purchase an air seeder for zero-till farming and new fertilizer bins for safe storage in his yard. And through classes connected to the program, he gained a better understanding of the environmental risks on his farm.
“This was a very good program,” he added. “It made you open your eyes.”
That’s why Quadrelli was puzzled when he received a letter from the province stating the program had ended.
“If they didn’t have a new program in place, then why not run the old program for one more year?” he asked.
The lack of continuity was also confusing to Leanne Rowat, Conservative MLA from Minnedosa. She said the program launched 8,500 projects across the province, with more than 500 producers creating environmental plans.
“To me, it’s a contradiction of this government. You say that you respect the protection of the environment and your support farmers. Well, here’s an opportunity to demonstrate (the support).”
Wowchuk said a replacement program is scheduled to be announced this week after The Western Producer’s deadline, but it won’t look exactly like the last one.
“We’ve put a lot of work into it and we’ve tried to design parts of the program that will meet the needs of producers but will allow for innovation to happen.”
