by SUSAN MANN

Farmers in the lakes Erie and St. Clair watersheds plus southeastern Lake Huron shore area flooded the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association with applications this spring for funding under the Farmland Health Incentive program.

“We experienced an overwhelming response and are no longer accepting applications for this program year,” the association says on its website.

Part of the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (GLASI), the farmland health program provides money to farmers to implement best management practices recommended as part of their Farmland Health Check-Up.

During the check-up, farmers work with a certified crop adviser and develop best management practices for their specific operations. The check up is provided free to the farmer and focuses on soil health, including phosphorus losses from the edge of fields, and pollinator health.

The Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative is geared to improving soil health, water quality and pollinator health, according to the association’s website. “By supporting best management practices recommended through the Farmland Health Check-Up, farmers can take action on their identified farmland health challenges and make a difference on the landscape.”

Gord Green, president of the soil and crop association, says applications began being accepted as of midnight on April 4 for the second year of the farmland health program. There were so many submitted by noon on April 5 the association stopped receiving any more.

Karen Jacobs, association environmental outreach specialist, says they’re currently not releasing the number of applications submitted because they're still processing them. They’re also not divulging how much funding is available.

"There's a whole lot of programs under GLASI and it gets very confusing in the media, so we've released the total amount for GLASI," which is $4 million a year over four years, she explained.

“We’re very thrilled with the response,” to the farmland health incentive program, she says. “We feel that the response and the incredible uptake demonstrates the interest farmers have in programs like this.”

Jacobs says the huge response can be attributed to the association doing “great outreach” in the winter to make farmers aware of the program. In addition the momentum from last year’s program “was able to continue into this year’s program.”

Furthermore, improving soil health and being concerned about water quality are timely topics among farmers, she notes.

There have been other occasions when the association has had to close applications soon after a program started receiving them due to a huge response.

Jacobs says any farmer in the target area (the lakes Erie and St. Clair watersheds and the southeastern Lake Huron shores watershed) can complete the farmland check-up and not just people applying to the farmland health program. The participating crop advisers are paid through the program.

Funding for GLASI comes from the provincial and federal governments through Growing Forward 2, the national agricultural policy framework. GLASI began in 2015 and runs until 2018 and was allocated funding of $4 million a year.

The check up identifies areas of farms that can be improved “with the goal of improving soil health,” she says. “It has been decided that improving soil health also ultimately improves water quality in those great lakes.”

The check up, which takes about three hours to do, is a “good part of the program, whether you get funding or not,” says Green. “It’s available all year.”

Jacobs says they’re assessing the submitted farmland health program applications “for completion.” Funding is assigned to completed applications on a first-come, first-serve basis. Farmers can get funding of 35 per cent, 50 per cent or 60 per cent of their approved project. The most funding available is capped at $25,000 per project.

The first year of the farmland health program also went well, and Jacobs says they will eventually be releasing the number of projects funded last year. BF