Manitoba lifts seasonal ban on fertilizers

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Published: April 9, 2015

Manitoba producers can now apply fertilizer and manure to their land.

The provincial government announced last week that soil temperatures are sufficiently warm and it is lifting the wintertime restriction on nutrient application.

The province established regulations in 2011 that prohibited farmers from applying fertilizer between Nov. 10 and April 10. The measures were part of broader legislation to protect Manitoba lakes, rivers and streams.

Growers and the Keystone Agricultural Producers opposed the hard deadlines because there are years when it’s possible to apply fertilizer in late November or early April.

The province listened and established a more flexible system based on soil temperatures, the weather forecast and snow cover.

Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship said the April 10 restriction is lifted, but other regulations are still in place.

“All other requirements of the nutrient management regulation and the livestock manure and mortalities management regulation remain in effect, including setback requirements for winter spreading of livestock manure. Nutrients cannot be applied to sensitive lands along waterways or to lands classified as Nutrient Management Zone N4.”

robert.arnason@producer.com

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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