| Water testing has long been part and parcel of buying and selling agricultural properties. But knowing exactly what’s in your soil and well water is becoming increasingly important to safeguard both human health and property values. E.coli O157:H7 is one pathogen that can have serious human health implications but that many people don’t realize may be present in their rural environments. A campaign is now underway in Alberta to raise awareness and to encourage farmers, ranchers and rural homeowners to test their soil and water for the presence of this bacterium. Continue reading Testing key to knowing what’s in your water – and protecting your farm  Here’s a piece I wrote as a guest post for the Canadian Beef Blog.
Every day is Earth Day on the farm. This slogan has long been used by folks in agriculture to highlight how farming benefits the environment. The good news stories don’t get told is a common complaint I hear from the farmers and farm groups I work with. And that’s usually true. It’s the bad actors that make the headlines and get the column space – manure spills, pesticide overuse and water contamination feed the sensationalism machine much more voraciously than a wetland preserved, an erosion control implemented or a strip of trees planted. I’m not going to pretend that the bad things don’t happen. They unfortunately do, but luckily, they are the exception rather than the norm. Continue reading What you probably didn’t know is happening on our farms  Folks in food and farming talk a lot about all the things farmers do to protect the environment – but often in somewhat general terms.
Here’s a real life example in Terry, a farmer and business owner from the Stouffville area. I interviewed him this past summer for an article that I was writing and his story, to me, shows how relatively little things farmers are doing on their farms benefits all of society in the long run. In Terry’s case, it was a protective liner he installed in a fertilizer storage to ensure a beautiful pond on his property stays beautiful – and clean. Continue reading Protecting the environment – one farm at a time Sometimes I wonder whether we’re actually hard-wired to be instantly attracted to bad news and shocking revelations. I see negativity often dominating our 24-hour news cycle, leaving the less sensational but equally important good news to fall by the wayside. More and more people are now writing and reporting about food, farming, science and the environment. These are current, interesting topics that affect all of us on daily basis, whether we consciously realize it or not. And yet fewer people than ever have much of an in-depth understanding of them, affecting both the way we cover and the way we interpret news. Continue reading Farmers take safe pesticide application seriously  Farmers can safely dispose of their obsolete pesticides, unused animal health products and used sharps at collection sites across Ontario this week.
The CleanFARMS blitz program starts tomorrow and will run until October 22 as part of an Ontario government-supported Great Lakes Basin water quality initiative that offers farmers a free, safe way to recycle and dispose of these items. Continue reading Free farm disposal program starts tomorrow  A series of hiking trail signs highlighting environmental accomplishments by farmers are being unveiled today in the Greenbelt.
The signs have been installed along popular hiking trails in the Greenbelt – an area of permanently protected farmland, forests, wetlands and greenspace in southern Ontario – as a way of showcasing the many environmental advancements made by farmers. Continue reading Trail signs highlight “green” farming  The federal government has developed a series of suggestions for Canadians to be more environmentally conscious.
The tips – listed on a website called Take Action for the Environment – cover a variety of areas, but some of them, in my opinion, come directly from agriculture and represent things that farmers have been doing for years. For example: Continue reading Take action for the environment – by learning from farmers | |
