GLASI Priority SubwatershedProject

GLASIGreat Lakes Agricultural

Stewardship Initiative

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The following are Best Management Practices that are eligible for cost-share funding. These BMPs address erosion potential, especially during the non-growing season, nutrient loss, reductions or improvements to nutrient application and improving overall soil health.

Targeted List of Eligible Best Management Practices

1. Cover Crops2. In-Field Erosion Control

Structures3. Retire Marginal Lands4. Contour Cropping and Strip

Cropping5. Conservation Tillage6. Optimize Placement and

Timing of PhosphorusApplications

7. Crop Nutrient Plans or FieldNutrient Management Plans

8. Field Windbreaks and WindStrips

9. Buffer Strips10. Drainage Water Management11. Innovative Actions

Wigle Creek Priority Subwatershed ProjectEssex Region Conservation Authority

Katie Stammler519-776-5209 ext 342kstammler@erca.org

Michael Dick519-776-5209 ext 369mdick@erca.org

1. Cover Crops$60/ac up to 500ac for each eligible farm business.

Increase use of non-harvested and non-grazed cover crops to provide undisturbed cover over winter months and/or early spring months.

• Costs associated with mechanical orchemical termination of the cover crop

• Equipment modification costs• Fertilizer and crop protection costs• Crops that will be harvested, grazed or fall

terminated

Ineligible Activities

• Single stands, intercropping, one variety orcomplex mixes

Eligible Activities✓

X

Up to $75,000 per eligible farm business across

all BMPs

For more information about this program, please contact:

Landowners in a subwatershed of Wigle Creek are now eligible for extra funding to implement agricultural Best Management Practices to improve soil health and water quality. Support for this project was provided by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association through the GLASI Priority Subwatershed Project funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs and Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. The program will take place from 2015 – 2018 and will evaluate the effectiveness of a focused stewardship approach to achieving measurable improvements to soil health and water quality.

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To be eligible to participate in this program, you must:

Have a Farm Business Registration Number or can provide an appropriate religious, cultural or gross farm income exemption.

Have a valid Premises Identification Number (PID)

Be located in the Wigle Creek Watershed target area, as per the map found on page 6.

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2. In-Field Erosion Control Structures

Projects must be properly designed (e.g. engineered design) in accordance with specifications included in the OMAFRA publication 832 titled Agricultural Erosion Control – A Design and Construction Manual.

• Systematic tile drainage systems thatare not an integral part of the erosioncontrol structure

• Constructing new drainage channelsor repair of existing

• Installation of surface inlets fordrainage of ponded surface water(not associated with erosion controlstructure)

• Leveling of land/fields• Applying cost share to projects

initiated through the Drainage Act• Ongoing maintenance costs

Ineligible Activities

• Infrastructure and development costs• Costs associated with materials and construction

of erosion control structures• Costs associated with modification of an existing

surface inlet that is part of an existing erosioncontrol structure to reduce loss of sediment/nutrients

• Consulting and engineering fees

Eligible Activities

80% cost share up to $5,000 for each eligible farm business.

Build or upgrade in-field erosion control structures (e.g. WASCoB, terraces, grassed waterways, contour strips of perennial vegetation).

3. Retire Marginal Lands80% cost share up to $5,000 for each eligible farm business.

Taking marginal land out of production. “Marginal” refers to agricultural lands that have very limited potential for profitable row crop production year after year due to regular and severe water or wind erosion risk, or risk of annual flooding. Projects must include a minimum of 500 native trees or shrubs.

• Marketing of products for off-farmsales (e.g. hay, nuts, fruit, bio-products) within the next 15 years

• Annual payments for land taken out ofannual crop production

Ineligible Activities

• Seeding marginal sites that were annually-cropped within the past two years to permanent vegetativecover

• Establishment of native trees or shrubs, native grasses or native wildflowers to stabilize sites andenhance pollinator habitat

• Purchase and planting of permanent native or non-invasive introduced species of trees or shrubs,grasses, legumes or wildflowers to stabilize marginal areas and ideally provide flowering species thatbloom in sequence throughout the growing season to provide pollen and nectar for pollinator species

• Converting land to a constructed wetland or restore natural wetland areas including costs of design,earthwork, ditch plugs, equipment rentals, and vegetative establishment

Eligible Activities

✓

X

X

✓

4. Contour Cropping and Strip Cropping$60/ac up to 250ac for each eligible farm business.

Increase adoption of agronomic practices to slow and help filter runoff water.

• Contour cropping• Strip cropping row crops across the

slope with cereals or perennial forages

Eligible Activities✓

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5. Conservation Tillage

Crop residue management to ensure at least 30% of soil surface is covered with living or dead residue after planting.

• Adoption of reduced tillage systems throughmodification of tillage and/or planting equipment

• For a field to be eligible for payment of fundingassistance, the target residue levels mustbe confirmed through field evidence (e.g.geotagged and dated photos after plantingto confirm the minimum 30% of soil surfacecoverage was achieved)

Eligible Activities✓

6. Phosphorus Management Optimizing the placement and timing of the phosphorus(P) and manure applications. Funding is extended to thecustomization of equipment, not the purchase of the entire unit. For equipment that exists without a basic counterpart, full funding may be available, depending on your subwatershed.

• Accessing per acre payments for both BMP5 and BMP 6 for a single equipment pass

• Accessing funding for PhosphorusManagement more than once a year for thesame crop on the same acreage

• Equipment to move manure from storageto field (e.g. tankers, box spreaders, draghoses, pit agitators, hose reels and anyother equipment that is not a tool bar orvertical beater)

• Separate pass cultivation unit orincorporation equipment

• Transportation costs of exported orimported manure from or to the farm

• Equipment that facilitates the movement ofmanure to the spreading unit

Ineligible Activities• Equipment modifications including those that:

• Allow banding of P at planting• Achieve incorporation of nutrients at time of

application, combined with appropriate applicationrate and volume

• Permit one-pass liquid manure application withpre-tillage or incorporation

• Increase accuracy to reduce over-application (i.e.,GPS, vertical beaters, upgraded tool bars)

• Convert new or existing manure applicationequipment, via specialized components, toallow direct injection, below canopy application,incorporation or pre-tillage methods

• Allow slurry seeding of cover crops with manureapplication

• Allow applying manure into strip tillage bands in fallin preparation for spring corn or for side-dressingmanure into standing corn

• Shifting behaviour to:• Prevent winter application of livestock manure• Restrict manure and fertilizer applications in late fall and early spring when fields are hydrologically active• Encourage cultivation immediately prior to liquid manure application to avoid macropore movement of manure• Prevent winter application of livestock manure• Adjust the frequency of P applications to field based on crop rotation and crop fertility• Achieve incorporation of nutrients at time of application

Eligible Activities✓ X

• Accessing per acre payments for both BMP 5 and BMP 6 for a single equipment pass• Accessing funding for Conservation Tillage more than once a year for the same crop on the same acreage

Ineligible ActivitiesX

TWO options for cost-share per year:Either 1) $30/ac up to 500ac for the length of the program Or 2) 80% cost-share for equipment upgrades for the length of the program up to $30,000 for each eligible farm business.

Only one option may be accessed in a single year, but both options may be accessed to the maximum level over the length of the program.

TWO options for cost-share per year:Either 1) $30/ac up to 500ac for the length of the program Or 2) 80% cost-share for equipment upgrades for the length of the program up to $30,000 for each eligible farm business.

Only one option may be accessed in a single year, but both options may be accessed to the maximum level over the length of the program.

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7. Crop Nutrient Plans or Field Nutrient Management Plans80% up to $8,000 for each eligible farm business.

A 5-year written plan prepared by a designated specialist (e.g. Certified Crop Advisor, Agricultural Operations Strategy/ Plan Development Certificate holder, Non-Agricultural Source Material Plan Development Certificate holder) that makes recommendations on nutrient source, application, timing and placement for each applicable field and crop (4R) (e.g. a voluntary nutrient management plan prepared using NMAN software).

• Computer hardware• Claims for time invested by the producer in

plan preparation• Routine crop scouting and pest monitoring

Ineligible Activities• Soil testing and mapping exercises that are

necessary for the plan• Expert services provided by an eligible

professional/ consultant• Planning and design support tools (e.g.

computer software related to development of plan)

Eligible Activities✓ X

8. Field Windbreaks and Wind Strips80% up to $5,000 for each eligible farm business.

Planting of permanent tree windbreaks or seasonal vegetated wind strips.

Projects must include a minimum of 500 native trees or shrubs.

• Trees, shrubs or other plantings for landscaping or around buildings

• Ongoing maintenance costs (including maintenance and renovation of existing tree plantings)

• Planting invasive or non-native trees • Opportunity costs associated with

payments for land taken out of production • Establishment of trees, shrubs, or other

plantings that are intended for harvest for economic benefit within 15 years, such as fruit orchards, Christmas trees, ornamental nursery stock, etc.

• Tree spaded stock or the transplant of large caliper trees

Ineligible Activities

• Tree species and planting techniques must adhere to practices that would typically be advocated by a professional forester

• Grass seed costs for windstrips

Eligible Activities✓

X

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9. Buffer Strips80% up to $5,000 for each eligible farm business.

Establishment of permanently vegetated buffer strips within riparian zones alongside streams, drains, rivers, ponds, wetlands and lakes. Buffer Strips shall be a minimum of 3 metres and a maximum of 60 metres in width.

Projects must include a minimum of 500 native trees or shrubs.

• Annual payments for land taken outof annual crop production

Ineligible Activities• Seeding field margins within riparian areas that

were annually-cropped within the past two years topermanent vegetative cover

• Purchase and planting of permanent native ornon-invasive introduced species of trees or shrubs,grasses, legumes or wildflowers to stabilize riparianzones and ideally provide flowering species thatbloom in sequence throughout the growing seasonto provide pollen and nectar for pollinator species

Eligible Activities✓ X

11. Innovative Actions80% up to $10,000 for each eligible farm business.

Other innovative practices that build soil resilience and limit the loss of nutrients from the field.

• Infrastructure and development costsEligible Activities✓

10. Drainage Water Management80% up to $15,000 for each eligible farm business.

Create areas in field for temporary holding of runoff water to promote infiltration through installation of controlled drainage infrastructure and increase potential for excess water to leave field via evapotranspiration

Construct wetlands for the purposes of filtering and naturally treating runoff waters (including tile drainage waters) leaving cropland.

• Installation of tile drains except tofacilitate the proper operation of the proposed controlled drainage or wetland feature

Ineligible ActivitiesX• Infrastructure and development costs to install box

weirs to facilitate controlled drainage• Consulting costs by recognized water management

expert (i.e. P.Eng.) to design, develop and calibratethe system

• Upgrade/modify existing tile inlets or outlets• Constructed wetlands including costs of design,

earthwork, ditch plugs, equipment rentals, andvegetative establishment

Eligible Activities✓