Environmental Stewardship
As people with families whose livelihoods and way of life are very close to the land, farmers and ranchers understand more than most the importance of healthy soil, water and air. They live on farms and ranches with their families and depend on the environment to create a healthy place to live as well as the right conditions to grow crops and raise livestock. Through a variety of farm groups, farmers invest in environmental research and help develop programs to share the latest findings.
A voluntary program called the Environmental Farm Plan is helping farmers across Canada audit their operations for environmental concerns in up to 25 different areas of their farm and set goals for improvements. Through the EFP process, farmers highlight their farm’s environmental strengths, identify areas of environmental concern, and set realistic action plans with timetables to improve environmental conditions.
The Government of Saskatchewan’s Farm Stewardship Program, provides eligible Saskatchewan producers with financial assistance to implement beneficial management practices to help maintain or improve the quality of soil, water, air, or biodiversity resources. As well, the Farm & Ranch Water Infrastructure Program supports the development of secure water supplies in Saskatchewan to expand irrigated acres, the livestock industry, encourage rural economic activity and mitigate the impacts of drought.
Wildlife Habitats
The land farmers and ranchers care for is essential for their businesses and for many, their family homes.
Their lands cover wide areas of the province and can contain waterways and wildlife. Ensuring proper land management, which includes protecting wildlife, is key to passing on their farm to the next generation.
More than a third of Canada’s 68 million hectares classified as agricultural land isn’t suitable for planting crops because it is too rocky, hilly, wet or dry.
Often these areas are put to use as pasture for grazing livestock, but many do double-duty as excellent wildlife habitats. Many farmers choose practices such as planting native grasses, moving their livestock from pasture to pasture – we call this rotational grazing – and establishing buffer zones around water bodies to help sustain wildlife populations and promote biodiversity. And some species, such as grassland birds like the Bobolink or Western Meadowlark, rely on areas with tall grasses to nest. If farmers stopped planting and maintaining grass crops, small shrubs and trees start to take over and those types of birds would lose their habitats.
For more information:
- Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan
- Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre
- Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation
Water & Water Use
There are many misleading or confusing reports about the amount of water that goes into growing a bushel of wheat or producing a kilogram of beef, for example. The simplistic math that is sometimes used to calculate water consumption ignores the reality that in crops, water falls as rain or snow before it evaporates or moves through the soils and is recirculated. It’s the same for livestock. It doesn’t make sense to say that animals drink water and then it’s lost forever. Animals retain only a very small fraction of the water they consume. Most of the water they drink is recycled back into the environment.
Some high-value and weather sensitive crops – usually fruits and vegetables – require irrigation. Today’s irrigation systems come in a variety of forms and are built to make sure every drop of water is used.
Water availability and quality are an important issue for all of us. In Canada, only 8.5% of farms use any form of irrigation. The remaining 91.5% of farms rely solely on precipitation for crop watering. Irrigation is used on crops like berries, fruits and vegetables that are for direct human consumption.
Sometimes land used to grow crops is too wet, so farmers will drain it using underground tile to remove surplus water from fields. This improves crop quality and yield and reduces water runoff and soil erosion. In some provinces, farmers must apply for a government-issued permit to take water to ensure that they are using water resources properly and in an environmentally responsible way.
For more information:
Environmental Links
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Environmental Farm Plans
- Farm Stewardship Programs
- Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program
- Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association
- Ducks Unlimited
- Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation
- Operation Pollinator
- Water Security Agency
- Government of Saskatchewan Conservation Easements