Conservation efforts pay off for farmers

Farmers are learning that environmental stewardship can pay dividends.

During a recent field day, the Seine Rat River Watershed District highlighted two of the four projects in which farmers were able to take advantage of Alternative Land Use Services Canada (ALUS) funding to incentivize environmental upgrades to their land.

The district entered a partnership with ALUS in 2019, but the funding expanded to include the option of regular payments to farmers in some cases.

“Prior to 2021, we couldn’t give an annual payment as a supplement to a project,” says district manager Joey Pankiw. “We would just be paying for the establishment costs, and then the land would be taken out of production, and the farmer wouldn’t get any compensation.”

However, in 2021, the funding arrangement was amended so farmers could receive annual payments, which has helped encourage program uptake.

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