A weekly report prepared by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). If you require further information, regarding this report, call the Elora Resource Centre at 519-846-0941. Office hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm.
For technical information, call the Agricultural Information Contact Centre at 1-877-424-1300 or visit the OMAFRA website: www.ontario.ca/omafra.
DO YOU HAVE A WATER CONTINGENCY PLAN?
There are many resources, including publications from OMAFRA, that can help farmers manage water during low or excessive situations:
– Environmental Farm Plan Infosheet #13: Water Efficiency (ontariosoilcrop.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/EFPInfosheet13.pdf);
– OMAFRA’s drainage resources (ontario.ca/drainage);
– publications in the Best Management Practices Series including Water Management (ontario.ca/c866), Irrigation Management (ontario.ca/c867), Soil Erosion by Water and other soil health publications (ontario.ca/c6lr) and Cropland Drainage (ontario.ca/c868);
– Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association’s Low Water Conditions worksheet in the Environmental Farm Plan Emergency Plan (ontariosoilcrop.org/oscia-programs/workshops-webinars/environmental-farm-plan/efp-emergency-plan/);
– Our Adverse Weather (ontario.ca/agweatherissues), Low Water (ontario.ca/c864) and Irrigation (ontario.ca/c865) web pages have resources for water conservation, creating water storages, using irrigation systems and adapting to extreme weather and water conditions; and
– The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s Managing your water well in times of water shortage (ontario.ca/c6ph) web page.
Contingency planning is an important way to plan for the future. OMAFRA encourages farmers to create water management contingency plans for their operations to be ready for whatever the future brings. Plans can outline:
– how much water is needed for the operation, including water for livestock;
– alternative water sources when wells and reservoirs run dry, including water haulers and well drillers (keeping in mind that these sources may be unavailable at the height of low water conditions);
– other feed sources for livestock and poultry;
– drainage options;
– what to do with livestock if there’s flooding; and
– how to handle flooding in farm buildings.
OMAFRA is working with other provincial ministries, conservation authorities and other partners to develop ways to help farmers manage water resources and to plan for periods of low and excessive water. While we can’t predict the weather, we can plan for it.
COMING EVENTS
Oct. 14 to 16 – Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference. Hilton/Fallsview, Niagara Falls. For more information, visit advancingwomenconference.ca/ or call 403-686-8407.
