Farmers are vulnerable to tough environmental laws because they often don’t know what the laws are, says a legal specialist.
Their only defence is to understand laws that regulate their land, Saskatoon lawyer Julian Bodnar told the annual meeting of the Saskatchewan Conservation and Development Authority.
“I don’t think this movement can be stopped,” said Bodnar of environmental laws.
“I think the power of Ducks Unlimited and the power of politics and money – the whole wetlands movement – is going to be greater than ever in coming years.
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“I think as farmers the only thing you can do is take steps to meet it.”
Bodnar said farmers have to practise “due diligence” to ensure they are not subject to penalties under environmental protection legislation.
Due diligence means taking all reasonable steps to prevent pollution through farming practices.
Bodnar said water and pollution problems are intimately connected. Pollution spreads mainly through water flow from sloughs, streams, in ground water or in lakes.
He said there is greater potential for pollution now because farmers tend to use more water in their operations. Use of chemical sprays increases the risk of drift and ground water pollution.
Many farmers cannot meet all requirements of environmental laws, said Bodnar. For example, the law says all sprayers filled at natural water sources have to have a backflow control to make sure no chemically treated water spills out.
“But how many do?”
Fines can be high. An Alberta farmer was recently fined $15,000 for spraying Roundup from a plane, he said. There were about a dozen charges for off-label offences laid last year in Alberta. In Saskatchewan there were no charges, but a dozen warnings were issued.
And there are greater problems than fines. Pollution from chemicals and other farming practices could bring lawsuits from neighbors, Bodnar said. That could affect the offending farmer’s ability to get bank loans and it could scare off insurance companies.
Farmer liability for pollution is part of a larger trend in which farming is becoming more regulated, he said.
“We’re moving toward a new era in agriculture that says we have a right to farm – if we farm right.”
Farmers can protest the change, but he thinks it would be useless.
“I don’t think you’ll accomplish anything.”
Instead, farmers should make sure their farms are safe from attack by following the laws.
“The only real defence is due diligence,” said Bodnar.
