Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, fellow witnesses and committee members. It's a pleasure to be here.
I am the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, which is Manitoba's general farm policy group. We represent 7,000 farm families and 19 commodity groups across the province. Agriculture accounts for 5% of Manitoba's GDP. Industries connected to agriculture include food and beverage processing, agri-business manufacturing, value-added processing, and transportation.
Manitoba has a total farm area of 18 million acres, of which about 12 million are cultivated for cropland. KAP policy is very clear on the area of endangered species. KAP believes that farmers and landowners must be fully compensated for any measures required and any losses incurred while protecting endangered species on their property as mandated by legislation.
So who are the stakeholders? Obviously, farmers, agri-retailers, farm-equipment dealers and manufacturers, rural residents, conservation districts, eco activists and environmentalists, hunters, fishers, and first nations.
Who are the relevant stakeholder groups in Manitoba? They would be the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, and the Manitoba Conservation Districts Association. These groups are responsible for the majority of publicly available knowledge regarding habitat conservation.
So what is the current state here in Manitoba? Since 2005 in Manitoba 6,462 farmers have completed an environmental farm plan representing over 8.8 million acres. The environmental farm plan program promotes the use of land and also provides financial incentives and beneficial management practices to accommodate environmental objectives.
Further to that, in the last year we've begun a process of forming the 4R Manitoba program. Keystone Agricultural Producers, along with the Canadian Fertilizer Institute and the Manitoba Government, are signatories to a memorandum of understanding to implement the 4R nutrient stewardship program and to see this brought into effect not just for livestock producers but also for crop producers across the province who are using synthetic nutrients. The objective is to protect waterways and ecosystems in Manitoba from nutrient runoff.
In 2006 KAP partnered with Delta Waterfowl to deliver the ALUS program to producers in the province. Under ALUS, farmers received payments to protect conservation land. Through this they delivered a variety of environmental services, including those involving wildlife and pollinator habitat, improved water quality, cleaner air, and carbon sequestration. ALUS's success can be seen in Alberta, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and, most recently, Saskatchewan.
As for agriculture and habitat conservation, farmers are stewards of the land out of necessity for their business. They are also in the best position to manage the habitats they are inhabiting. Habitats on farmland have decreased. Often the most ecologically varied lands are the most productive for farmland. Producers are often put under a microscope for their practices while urban residences can pollute with general impunity.
Government's role is to provide comprehensive and realistic responses to the land-use paradox faced by farmers. They're responsible for creating economic opportunities and feeding populations by farming the land while also being responsible for limiting any losses due to the disruption of the natural landscape. Over-regulation of farmers does not necessarily yield the best results when it comes to conservation efforts. Regulations are often not flexible enough to recognize the significant differences among farming operations. As well, they are often not enforceable at a meaningful level.
I could add that as of 2013 my family has been farming the same land in Canada for 110 years. Over that 110-year period we have not moved and we are still running our crop production sustainably on the lands we originally settled.
Regarding our recommended responses, we have found that education and incentive-based programs have a more positive result, because they allow producers to identify areas of significant opportunity that result in the highest cost-benefit ratio for e-genus provisions. Incentive programs like ALUS and the environmental farm plan program reward best practices and generate a culture of cooperation between farmers, government, and habitat.
We need to attach realistic values to the ecological goods and services, and provide the tools for the promotion of the service. The focus does not have to be on loss of land; rather, it can be on landscape, ecosystem, and habitat-based incentives. We need to encourage a dialogue between stakeholder groups, landowners, producers, and governments. Canada needs to have a working landscape. The bounty and beauty of our country is a national treasure for us all to enjoy. Managed properly, we can succeed in meeting our conservation objectives, while ensuring economic rewards for generations to come. I'm proud of the role agriculture can contribute to the future of the environment.
I would like to discuss ALUS a little bit, though I know this is perhaps somewhat repetitive for the committee because we've talked about it before. Essentially, ALUS pays farmers to reconstruct natural ecosystems. It rehabilitates life support processes for water filtration, purification, and nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. The natural benefits include clean air and water, and habitat for fish and wildlife and species at risk, and sustainable food production on a working landscape.
Under ALUS, farmers conserve and restore essential features, such as wetlands, creeks, shorelines, native upland grasses, trees, and unique habitats such as tallgrass prairie. They help restore declining biodiversity for amphibians and native pollinated species.
While each ALUS project will have unique characteristics, the following operational principles are common across the program:
First, it's voluntary. Farmers choose to participate. They will be reimbursed a portion of their start-up capital costs, usually ranging from 50% to 100%. They will in most cases also receive an annual payment for performance when completing the program delivered.
Second, there is capping. Often farmers will enrol their cultivated land, but this excludes forested land areas because they would not be directly affected.
Third, it's integrated within the system. Every effort will be made to integrate projects with existing programs, such as crop insurance, extension services, a county's official plan, water source protection, incentive programs for BMPs, public and private conservation programs.
Fourth, it's targeted. Environmentally sensitive areas will be a priority for stewardship. Fragile or marginal lands may be retired from cultivation or farmed in a different manner to benefit the environment, as identified by the landowner through the environmental farm planning process. Natural features such as wetlands and associated upland areas, or other combinations of unique ecological services are preferred.
Fifth, it's flexible. Farmers will sign a three-year agreement; however, the ability to opt-out every three years will remain and give flexibility to the farmer to adapt to changing economic conditions. Reimbursement of payments made for start-up costs and ecological services will be required in such cases.
Lastly, regarding trade, the ALUS project must be production neutral, so it will comply with trade rules.
That concludes my presentation.