By Rachel Kraynick, PAg, Agriculture Programs Specialist, Yorkton
May 2024
Summer is a great time to tackle projects in your livestock confinement areas. Some producers have experienced spring runoff that travels through the pens, making it muddy for livestock and difficult to manoeuvre for chores. The Livestock Water Protection Beneficial Management Practice (BMP), one of the BMPs funded under the Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Program, offers funding to livestock producers who wish to implement measures to protect water resources by preventing spring runoff from entering their livestock facility or migrating off-site. Ninety per cent of eligible costs, up to a maximum payment of $20,000, is available under this BMP.
around your pens is one BMP producers can adopt.
Producers wanting to construct runoff controls on new or existing livestock confinement, winter feeding or sorting and handling sites can apply for this pre-approval program. While not a mandatory requirement, the program funds technical, surveying and/or engineering costs regardless of the project proceeding. Eligible costs under this BMP can include holding ponds, ditches, berms and pen re-grading related to diverting runoff around the confinement area and in areas where you feed, sort, handle and store manure. Construction materials such as culverts, erosion control materials, and earthwork materials including rocks, gravel, dirt and clay, required to build berms or regrade existing pens are eligible expenses.
Seeding grass for earthwork stabilization in these areas or planting trees used to mitigate nutrient runoff can also be considered and funded. Even fencing to protect the newly seeded trees may be funded using the established Ministry of Agriculture fencing rates. If you happen to have a well in these areas, wellhead protection and extension of well cribbing are eligible expenses if done in conjunction with a runoff control project.
Applicants must work through their local Ministry of Agriculture agri-environmental specialist to have their projects pre-approved. Application deadline for pre-approval is December 31, 2027, and all projects must be completed and claimed by March 31, 2028. Your local agri-environmental specialist will help you with your pre-approval which will include a detailed site diagram of the project and area requiring runoff control. A site inspection may be completed to verify the information contained in the application or claim form.
For more information on the Resilient Agricultural Landscapes Program or to access assistance for your pre-approval, please contact the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.