Saint-Régis agricultural producers know how to adapt!
What is it?
This program is offered to agricultural producers located along the Rivière Saint-Régis, which flows through the municipalities of Saint-Isidore and Saint-Constant. This project, conducted in collaboration with a number of partners, is designed to support agricultural producers in changing their farming practices. The project is scheduled to run for four (4) years. The first two years of the project were devoted to mobilizing and recruiting farm businesses.
The objective was to bring agricultural producers together in a collective mobilization approach, so that they could benefit from an advantageous financing rate of 90% under the Prime-Vert volet 1 program. This approach led to the recruitment of the 14 agricultural businesses participating in the project.
Among the practices adopted this year were cover crops, whose objectives are to reduce erosion and improve soil health. Five farmers implemented this practice on their farms, using either fall wheat, spring wheat or barley. The total area planted with cover crops is over 184.5 ha for all the farms.
As for sustainable agri-environmental development, two growers planted trees and shrubs. The first planted a 164 m row of shrubs on a riparian strip. The second grower planted a windbreak consisting of two rows of maple trees around a new building. A total of 60 maple trees were planted.
Vegetation layout
Starting in the spring of 2021-2022, four producers have planned to plant trees and shrubs. The plants will be planted in a way that is as close as possible to their natural state, to encourage biodiversity.
In response to the great interest shown by farm businesses in sustainable agri-environmental development through tree and shrub planting, additional funding for the Prime-Vert – Volet 1 program has been obtained from the Agence forestière de la Montérégie. The planting will be carried out in 2 stages, the first of which will be the production of owner’s specifications and a management plan. Following this, a second application will be submitted to implement the developments described in the plans. Having observed the beneficial effects of cover crops on soil health, several growers have decided to continue with this practice next year.
Drain outlet riprap
In terms of soil conservation structures, only one grower this year installed a riprap drain outlet. Another producer wants to build a riprap chute to remedy the erosion problem caused by heavy water runoff downstream from a field and a stream bank.
In addition, a bird census is to be carried out over three (3) consecutive years. The first inventory took place in spring 2019, a second in spring 2020 and a final one will be conducted in spring 2021. These data will be used to compare avian biodiversity, and observe the effect of changing agricultural practices on bird populations in the watershed.
This project was funded by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation, as part of the Prime-Vert program.
For more information!
Contact our project managers at projet@scabric.ca.
