A motion passed by Council at yesterday’s Agricultural Tourism and Planning meeting will see farmers who have developed what is called an environmental farm plan get 30 percent of the costs cover up to a thousand dollars a project.
Speaking as a delegation at the meeting, Jayne Dietrich of the Bruce County Soil and Crop Association says farmers who have completed projects under the seven categories that the County had set out will get the funding.
Those categories are manure storage and run-off control, upgrades and decommissioning of water wells, erosion controls, fencing, and alternative watering.
Dietrich says Bruce County farmers are in the top five in Ontario when it comes to participating in environmental planning.
She says that does not surprise her because they are top-notch producers and stewards of the land and would do everything to protect it.
Dietrich says 34 percent of farmers have participated in an environmental farm plan workshop.
She says they completed a document that identifies the agricultural concerns or issues that they like to deal with.
Dietrich says the educational component is paramount because Bruce County farmers are aware of the regulations and are willing to work within them.
The federal and provincial governments are also putting money into the environmental farm plan program.
