Dave Biesenthal has a chilling message. What happened to him and his family could one day happen to someone else.
“I just want farmers to know how vulnerable they are,” he said during a presentation at Manitoba Ag Days last week in Brandon. “I think this was a point that was certainly proven to my wife and myself.”
Biesenthal farms at Walkerton, Ont., a community that became the focus of national attention four years ago when people began dying of a serious illness linked to contaminated water. The E. coli outbreak led to intense scrutiny of farming practices, and the Biesenthals found themselves at the centre of the controversy.
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An abandoned well on land he rented from a neighbour was a suspected source of the water contamination. During the summer of 2000, his family endured a flurry of visits from health and environment officials and from the media.
“There were probably about 100 vehicles coming in and out every day. It just didn’t stop.
“Every time we turned around, there was someone coming to test for something.”
Biesenthal said he was treated almost as a criminal. The scrutiny forced him to think about leaving the farm that he and his family were devoted to. He began parking tractors along his driveway as a barricade against unwanted visitors.
“This is really how quickly your life can change.”
His family was also confronted with a $350 million lawsuit that contained accusations that the Biesenthals were negligent in their methods of storing livestock manure and spreading it on their fields. They were also accused of failing to implement an environmental farm plan, although they had been among the first farmers in Ontario to develop such a plan for their farm.
“I realize now, after all that has happened, that we were probably targeted from day one.”
Some of the most heart wrenching moments came when family members of people who died in the E. coli outbreak arrived at the farm to assure the Biesenthals that they did not blame them for what happened.
It was later established that shoddy maintenance of the town’s water treatment was the main culprit. However, Biesenthal said the experience underlines the importance of paying attention to management of manure and other nutrients. Proper management and record keeping could be a farmer’s saving grace.
Biesenthal advocates getting an environmental farm plan in place. That plan can evaluate whether there are things about a farm that could pose environmental risks.
“I believe that most people who do environmental farm plans find they’re right up to snuff. It demonstrates to the public you’re doing your best to protect the environment.”
Biesenthal said their environmental farm plan helped give them the confidence to withstand the scrutiny they underwent in 2000.
Careful record keeping also helped. Biesenthal is fastidious when it comes to keeping a daily journal of farm activity related to nutrient management, which includes the manure from cattle as well as commercial fertilizers applied to fields.
Biesenthal also encouraged farmers to take pride in what they do, and to reflect that in the way they maintain their farms. That can have a bearing on public perceptions about farming.
