Senior governments are kicking in $1.5 million to help more farmers work with nature as they grow food for our dinner plates.
The funding boost announced June 15 will allow Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust (DFWT) to expand its programs beyond Delta and Richmond, eastward into the Fraser Valley.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us in making connections with those farmers in Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford and we’re really looking forward to building those partnerships and learning about those areas,” said DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz.
DFWT offers programs that encourage farmers to set aside fields for natural grasses for periods of time, or to create borders along the edges of fields where natural flowers, trees and shrubs can grow, which can provide wildlife habitat.
The largest program, by area, is the winter cover-crop program where barley, oats or wheat are planted in the fall to prevent winter erosion, retain soil moisture and lure hungry waterfowl away from producing fields.
DFWT has been promoting such programs for the past 30 years in Delta.
Schmalz said the trust’s approach to working one-on-one directly with farmers is unique.
One goal is to expand the grassland set-aside program, where natural grasses are added to crop rotation, to cover a field for up to four years. That improves soil quality for later growing and provides habitat for wildlife for that period. Schmalz said that after giving fields such rest, potato farmers are reporting higher yields when they resume production.
Farmers get financial help for such programs. For the winter-cover crop program, costs are shared. For the grassland set aside program, farmers are paid $500 an acre per year, for up to four years.
“Those costs associated in keeping the land are high. To be able to support farmers in doing these actions, it really goes a long way in making them happen,” Schmalz said.
The field margin program encourages farmers to plant grasses and wildflowers at the edges of fields, with $500 per acre reimbursed for five years.
The hedgerow program encourages farmers to plant shrubs and native trees and grasses to provide permanent wildlife habitat and carbon storage along property lines or field borders. Hedgerows can reduce wind erosion, improve pollination, provide shade for livestock and help rainwater infiltrate into the soil.
The money will help expand another new initiative, the blueberry rest program, which entails planting a mix of grasses, clover and flowers on fields where old blueberry plants have been removed. Soil quality is then improved when it’s time to plant new blueberry bushes. Farmers also get paid $500 an acre per year to join in that program.
“We do our best to support farmers, recognizing that farmers are giving up quite a bit for removing land from production,” Schmalz said.
She said that the organization is lucky to have worked with great growers in the Delta and Richmond area in the past.
“We’re really excited to kind of expand and build some new connections and new partnerships with other growers that are doing great things or who are interested in enhancing these aspects of their farms,” she said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food along with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, announced the new money.
The $1.5 million is part of the Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Program and is funded through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
That is a five-year (2023-28) $3.5-billion investment by Ottawa and the provinces to strengthen competitiveness, innovation and resilience of the agriculture sector.
This includes $1 billion in federal programs and activities, and $2.5 billion in cost-shared programs and activities that are funded 60 per cent by the federal government and 40 per cent by provincial governments.
