32
COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • FEBRUARY 2017 Sustainable agriculture takes its lead from nature
New-to-BC scientist gives straight talk on finding balance in farming by TOM WALKER
SUMMERLAND – The new soil scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Summerland feels at home. “The Shiraz region that I grew up in in Iran has a climate very similar to the Okanagan,” says Dr. Mehdi Sharifi. “My family has a vineyard and I worked in it most summers. I like working with grapes and apples.” Sharifi was most recently the Canadian Research Chair in Sustainable Agriculture and an assistant professor at Trent University’s School of Environment. He spoke about what sustainable agriculture means to him and how he hopes to contribute to the team at Summerland.
“Sustainability goes back to changes we have made to agriculture systems in the last several decades over concerns about the environment,” says Sharifi. “A lot of activities that we do in intensive agriculture with machinery, fertilizers, high-yielding varieties and agro-chemicals have a major affect on the environment” The idea of sustainable agriculture says that it is important to have a balance that mimics nature.
“It is an idea that has been around for a long time but the effects of industrial agriculture have given it a momentum,” says Sharifi. “People have concerns about their environment and their health.”
The main goal of
sustainable agriculture is to promote viability; it should be profitable.
“If you have a production system that is not profitable, it is useless, no matter how sustainable it appears to be,” says Sharifi. “The farmer can’t profit from that.”
“If you want to know if a society is healthy, look at the farmers of that society,” Sharifi says. “If the farmers have a good living and they are happy, it is a good indicator of the society.”
But at the same time, agriculture has to be environmentally sustainable and have a component of environmental stewardship. In addition, agriculture must support a family and community partnership – the social aspect.
These three concepts – the economics, the environment and the social – work together to form the pillars of sustainable agriculture.
GET A JUMP ON SPRING!
CASE 2290 1980, 128 HP, CAB, NO 3 PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,500 CASE 2090 1982, 108 HP, CAB, 3PT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,500 NH 3045 45 HP, 4X4, CAB, LDR, LIKE NEW ONLY 215 HOURS . . . . . 36,500 NH 6640SL 1992, 76 HP, 2X4, CAB, LDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,500 FORD 1510, 1983, 20HP, LDR, GEAR TRANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,950 MF 5613 2015, 100 PTO HP, CAB, 4X4, 16X16 POWERSHIFT TRANS, MF946 LDR, ONLY 345 HRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107,500 MF 4608 2013, 67HP, 450 HRS, CAB, 4X4, LDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,900 JD 790 2007, 27HP, JD LDR, ONLY 190 HRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,500 JD 3130 80 HP, 2X4, CANOPY, JD 148 LOADER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,500 KUHN FC353GC 11’6”CUT, FINGER CONDITIONER, SWIVEL HITCH . . 16,700 NH 1412 1999, 10’4” CUT, FLAIL CONDITIONER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,900 MF 220 SERIES II WINDROWER,1999, C/W 18’ DRAPER HEADER . 21,500 NH 488 1999, 9’2” CUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,800 VERMEER 554 XL 4’X5’ SILAGE SPECIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,800 BRANDT VSF BALE PROCESSOR C/W BIG SQUARE BALE KIT . . . . . . . . . . 8,900 FRONTIER WR1010 10 WHEEL HAY RAKE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,800
NOBLE TRACTOR & EQUIPMENT LTD. KAMLOOPS
580 Chilcotin Road 250/851-3101 TOLL FREE 1-888-851-3101
ARMSTRONG 4193 Noble Road 250/546-3141
TOLL FREE 1-800-661-3141
www.nobletractor.com
“We tend to focus on the environment as sustainability,” says Sharifi. “But you have to have all three for the sustainable production.” Sustainability is not the privilege of a particular system of agriculture. “I’ve seen
organic farms
with poor practices that are not sustainable at all and industrial production that is really good.”
Sharifi says one of the important things is that organic and conventional growers can learn from each other and the gap between the two systems is narrowing. Social costs are becoming more recognized and given higher value.
“Consumers are becoming more aware and are demanding different things, such as animal welfare from industry,” says Sharifi.
“When I began teaching an introduction to sustainable agriculture course at Trent, I was told I would get maybe 25 students,” Sharifi recalls. “They even opened it up to all disciplines so I might get nurses or history students.” He started off with 80 students and that grew to 120 and 160.
“This is showing me that young people are interested and motivated,” says Sharifi. “They want to know where
their food is coming from, how it is produced. “The new
generation of farmers are responding to those demands and actively marketing directly to
DR MEHDI SHARIFI
consumers. The growth of CSAs is an indication of this.”
Sharifi says his research as a soil scientist at Trent focused on nutrient management. “I looked at cover crops and how they can impact the main crop production and make it
FREE RANGE
free range operations on the island, but they are an addition to 30,000 or so caged birds
“We believed that the cage- free movement was where the industry was going to head,” he says. “Now we find out we were kind of ahead of the stream.”
The laying hens are fed a commercial ration, as are the meat birds and the turkeys, explains Ross.
“We set up the barn to organic standards and we looked into it carefully, but it would cost us about 60% more to bring organic feed over from the mainland.” Social license is important to the Springfords. “We have to have the
BC’s only complete Soil Information Program
more sustainable,” he explains. “I also looked at the benefits of organic amendments to the soil.” He hopes to continue that work to support the dry Okanagan soils that can lack organic matter.
“I am looking at improving the holding capacities of the soils. Soil should be like a sponge; it should hold on to the water.
“If our society is trusting farmers and understanding and respecting farming, if people are caring about where their food is coming from and are willing to spend a little more to get better quality food, then we are moving in the right direction.”
nfrom page 31
consumer on our side,” says Ross. “There is no point in a farmer pushing his way around the community.” Ross admits that building a chicken barn on the urban fringe met with some opposition.
“We held a town hall
meeting in Nanoose when we were planning the building; people have a fear of the unknown.”
An adjacent subdivision (about half a kilometer away) was about 60% built.
“We have some very good customers from the front row closest to the chicken barn,” says Ross.
Yet spreading chicken litter to support the fields can be tricky.
“I don’t spread it on a hot Friday afternoon during barbecue season” quips Ross. “We have an email list of most of the owners in the subdivision and I let them know when I’m going to spread and suggest that they might want to invite their mother-in-law over – I try to make it a bit humorous.” The family and farm contribute to the food bank, an important program in the predominantly semi-retired “have” population of Nanoose.
Deep Soil Analysis Shallow Reference Grid Sampling
Topographic field surveying for drainage and land leveling plans.
Soil EC and pH Mapping
Emerald Bay Ag Services Doug Macfarlane, CCA 250.550.0545 |
www.emeraldbayag.com
“We got a higher protein ration from our feed supplier by mistake and we were getting way more jumbo eggs than usual so we put on a promotion in November to donate a dollar for every dozen sold to the food bank.” And those extra backyard
plums?
“If the owner doesn’t want a return, we donate any profits over the cost of selling to the food bank as well,” says Ross. “It’s a good-news story.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47
