Landowner Stewardship Resources
Please note: These resource links are provided for your information. NVCA does not endorse or approve any of the products, services or opinions found on external sites. Further, NVCA is not responsible for the accuracy, accessibility, legality or content found on the external sites.
Agricultural Best Management Practices
- OMAFRA's
Best Management Practice (BMP) booklets are a series of publications that take a practical, affordable approach to conserving farm soil and water resources without sacrificing productivity. More than 25 topics are covered in the series, including farm forestry management, streamside grazing, managing nutrients (phosphorus) and controlling erosion. (links to OMAFRA)
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Vegetable and Fruit Washwater Treatment Manual - A guide for managing washwater at packaging facility in a way that promotes environmental stewardship. The guide provides information on why good wash water management is important on the farm and at the packaging facility. NVCA staff worked with the Holland Marsh Growers Association on research presented in the manual, sampling and monitoring washwater pre- and post-implementation of various water treatment technologies. (links to OMAFRA)
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Horse Owners Stewardship Guide for the Ontario Landscape. A great workbook to help you self-assess your farm, and highlights ways to improve it and protect the environment. Based on the Canada-Ontario Environmental Farm Plan. (links to Credit Valley Conservation)
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Manure Storages for Small to Medium Size Horse Farms (links to OMAFRA)
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Manure Management in the Equine Landscape.pdf (source: University of Guelph – Equine Guelph - The Centre for Land and Water Stewardship)
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Trees and Wildlife in the Equine Landscape.pdf
(source: University of Guelph – Equine Guelph - The Centre for Land and Water Stewardship)
Agricultural Soil Health, Conservation & Erosion Reduction
All about Algae
Cover Crops
Cover crops can increase soil fertility, organic matter, add nitrogen, suppress weeds, nematode suppression, reduce compaction and reduce water and wind erosion. These cover crop selection tools can help you choose the best species mixes for your farm:
Flooding - Be Flood Ready
The Government of Canada has launched a new website flood risks: Flood Ready provides an overview of overland flooding, cost of flooding, reasons to be flood ready, quiz on flood risks, step-by-step guide on making properties and communities safer, ways to build flood-readiness into a property, as well as community flood planning steps, tools and government programs.
Forestry Conservation
Forestry conservation or "tree cutting" bylaws fall under county jurisdiction. Remember to call or click before you cut!
The Green Pages: Watershed Business Directory
Business contacts for all your stewardship projects!
Dealing with Invasive Species
Mapping Tools
Mapping tools can help view air photos of your property, measure distances, check regulated areas, design your project, check soil mapping, Canada Land Inventory, etc:
Planting for Pollinators
Protecting your Soil
Protecting your Water
Septic System Inspection & Upgrades
Shoreline Restoration
Well Care & Maintenance
Windbreaks
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Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food windbreak videos (topics including planting, maintenance and success stories)
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Living Snow Fence Video - A video highlighting the benefits of living snow fences (Grand River Conservation Authority)
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Multi-functional Windbreaks: Design Options and Economic Evaluation - In 2011-2012, the NVCA and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), with the support of the provincial Lake Simcoe funding program, undertook a multi-phase windbreak project that included a report, workshops and a survey of farmers in the NVCA watershed.
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Shelterbelt Planting Guide - The planning, planting and maintenance of farm windbreaks, shelterbelts and hedgerows. How to design for reduced wind based soil erosion, increased crop yield, reduced odours, cooling/heating efficiency for the home and barn, and reduced snow drift/white-outs. (Andre Vezina, 2005)
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Shelterbelt Maintenance - A detailed guide on how to maintain farm shelterbelts or windbreaks, from initial establishment to replacement trees. (Andre Vezina, 2008)
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The Benefits of Windbreaks - Extension Notes - A fact sheet on how windbreaks work and their benefits to: reducing erosion, crop yield and quality, livestock productivity, snow control, energy efficiency, wood harvest, and wildlife. (Landowner Resource Centre and the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry, 1994)
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The Floraview Farm Project - Shelterbelt Case Study - A case study published by the Grand River Conservation Authority reviewing the success of using planted trees to create a shelterbelt on a dairy farm near Elmira, Ontario.
Woodlot Management & Forestry
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/environment/bmp/series.htm?utm_source=October+Connects+2014&utm_campaign=Oct+connects&utm_medium=email