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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MARCH 2020
Island farmers briefed on new ag waste regs Vancouver Island is considered a high-risk area under new code because of high rainfall
by TOM WALKER
DUNCAN – Managing soil nutrients on Vancouver Island under the province’s new Code of Practice for Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM Code) wrapped up the Saturday sessions at the Islands Agriculture Show in Duncan on February 8. BC Ministry of Agriculture soil specialist Dieter Geesing spoke about the specific requirements island farmers face under the new code. “Nutrient management is not only for commercial-scale farmers,” he says. “Backyard gardens are known to waste nutrients because they don’t soil test.”
While all BC farmers will
eventually follow nutrient application set-backs, soil sampling and record keeping
requirements, a number of additional practices apply to Vancouver Island. The entire island is
considered a high-risk area under the AEM Code, Geesing notes, due to high rainfall and being classified as a phosphorus-affected area. Besides specific nutrient management requirements for the island as a whole, additional regulations apply to farms in the Cobble Hill aquifer zone. The first requirement
affects the timing of nutrient applications. Applications must not occur in November, December or January, explains Geesing, and producers wishing to apply in October, February or March must complete and receive a positive outcome for each field from an online risk assessment tool 24 hours
prior to application. As with the rest of the
province, islanders will need to provide post-harvest soil nitrate test results. “As a rule of thumb, in the mid to north island your soil testing should be done before October 15,” says Geesing. “Courtenay south to Duncan should be complete by November 1 and the south island by November 15.” Because of the island’s high-risk phosphorus designation, farms must provide phosphorus sampling in addition to nitrate sampling. Soil samples are current for three years, unless nitrate levels exceed 100 kg per hectare. This would require tests the following year.
Nutrient management plans (NMP) are not required in 2020 but Geesing says
they’re always a good idea in order to achieve a balance between soil nutrients and crop requirements. “Why would you apply
more nutrients than you need to?” he asks.
Specific nutrient management plan requirements for producers located over vulnerable aquifers take effect in 2021. The sole aquifer affected on Vancouver Island is at Cobble Hill. A livestock/poultry farm in
Cobble Hill with more than five hectares of land, more than five animal units (2,275 kg of livestock or poultry), and post-harvest soil nitrogen levels exceeding 100 kg per hectare will need a nutrient management plan in 2021. By 2025, all farms in the
Cobble Hill area with five hectares or more and a 2024 post-harvest sample of 100 kg
ha of nitrogen will require an NMP. Additionally, any farmers on the island with five hectares or more who test for more than 200 ppm of phosphorus will need an NMP. The next requirements that
Geesing spoke to involve the storage of agricultural by- products in the high rainfall conditions of the island. Temporary manure storage is allowed for up to seven months, he explains. “Then you have to use it or
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move it,” he says. Temporary storage needs to be in a location that is not impacted by run-off water, nor, in the Cobble Hill zone, on coarse soils. The area should be re-vegetated after the nutrients have been removed. Temporary storage must be set back at least 4.5 metres from the property line, 30 metres from drinking water, and 15 metres from other watercourses if less than two weeks and 30 metres for storage locations between two weeks and seven months. Those temporary piles must be covered from October to April and must checked weekly for run-off and leachate. The results, of course, must be recorded. Lastly, Geesing spoke about permanent storage of by-products. “Make sure that you have
capacity to store all of your products until they can be used,” he cautions. Similar to temporary storage sites, permanent storage must be 4.5 metres from the property line, 30 metres from drinking water and 15 metres from other water courses. For those in Cobble Hill, permanent storage must have a protective base and be inspected at least once every six months.
Liquid manure requires a
protective base anywhere on the island and must be situated at least one metre from the highwater table in Cobble Hill, unless there’s proof that it is not leaking. A qualified professional must design the protective base for any new storage facility. An earthen storage pit built prior to February 29, 2019 can be grandfathered under certain conditions until February 29, 2029, Geesing adds.
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