It's our strong view, Mr. Anderson, that you will get more and better conservation if you develop conservation programs that are in tune with the culture of agriculture and the culture of rural communities. That is why I as a representative of a conservation group am sitting beside the vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. Often Ian and I travel across the country together and give presentations like this.
That has sent a very strong message to other rural communities across Canada, and they are coming on board the ALUS bandwagon very rapidly. Indeed, in Saskatchewan 21 rural municipalities proposed that ALUS pilot projects be done in their municipalities. In Manitoba, for example, the rural municipality of Blanshard is a traditional prairie agricultural municipality, and we have a councillor here with us, Mr. Roy Greer. That council voted on $40,000 per year to put into the ALUS pilot project in their communities.
I think that producers and rural communities have been waiting for conservation and environment programs to come along where they have a say. They design the program and they deliver it. These are not empty words, Mr. Chairman. For our ALUS pilot project in the rural municipality of Blanshard, 75% of the farmers have enrolled in the program.
Our preliminary evaluation shows a very positive result, because when farmers make their own decisions about their land, what they end up with is every single acre is now making money for them. They use these kinds of programs, like ALUS, to optimize their farms and it's a win-win for everybody.