Contributor: Sara K. Muir
Location: Lower Mainland, British Columbia
Land Use: Agriculture
Habitat Type: Agricultural Lands
Project Timeline: 1990-
Highlights
The Greenfields Project was established in 1990 as a cooperative venture to address issues of soil conservation, crop damage, land productivity, and wildlife habitat. Greenfields is recognized as a community farmland stewardship program that offers a financial incentive of $45 per acre to local farmers for the planting of winter cover crops. Winter cover crops are cereal grains, ryegrass or clover planted in the fall that grow or become mulch over the winter. These crops
- protect and maintain the soil surface structure from intense winter rains
- maintain soil surface infiltration so that most rain water is channelled through the soils
- contribute organic matter to soil when ploughed down in the spring
- provide valuable habitat for over-wintering and migrating waterfowl.
Over the past few years Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust (DF&WT), in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (Agroecology) has been conducting cover crop screening trials and monitoring cover crop management practices in Delta. Other partners include, farmers of the Fraser Delta, and agriculture and wildlife agencies.
Historically, agriculture and wildlife have coexisted in Delta. However, more recently Delta has seen rising conflict amongst expanding urbanisation, current agricultural use, and over-wintering waterfowl. The Greenfields Project is seen as a progressive and innovative means to address agriculture and wildlife issues.
The Fraser Delta, including the Boundary Bay area, is the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. The Fraser Delta is also recognized as one of the most agriculturally productive areas in BC. The farmland of this area is ranked in the top 20% of agricultural lands in the province, and is of national significance in agricultural productivity.
Delta winters are mild and wet with a high number of frost-free days. The climate and high soil capability enables an extensive growing season for agriculture. A diversity of crops, such as potatoes, beans, peas, corn, berries, greenhouse and nursery products, as well as hay, grain and other forage for livestock and poultry feed are grown.
Alongside this rich agricultural community, the Delta estuary supports the highest winter densities of waterfowl, raptors, and shorebirds in Canada. The Boundary Bay area is renowned, internationally, as important wintering habitat for Pacific Flyway migratory birds. The estuary and adjacent uplands are vital components of the Pacific Flyway, supporting over 1.4 million migrating birds throughout the winter season including such species as widgeon, snow geese, and trumpeter swan.
Project Objectives
The objectives of the Greenfields Project are to- improve soil structure and organic matter content while protecting soil from erosion due to heavy winter rains
- promote cover cropping practices to increase over-winter forage and disperse waterfowl grazing to reduce the impacts of waterfowl grazing on individual farmers’ fields
- investigate waterfowl grazing through a monitoring program and develop a historical database on winter cover fields in Delta
- collect important information on the significance of winter cover as feed for migratory waterfowl in the Delta/Boundary Bay area
- improve the public’s level of understanding of the value of Delta’s farmland for food production and wildlife habitat
- provide a liaison among wildlife and agricultural agencies and provide information on agriculture/wildlife interactions to agricultural and conservation organizations, government agencies and the public.
The Greenfields’ Field Program offers benefit to farmers in terms of financial contribution to the costs of cover crops and the soil enhancement benefits of the cover crops themselves, yet increased populations of widgeon and other waterfowl have significantly increased the costs associated with farming in Delta. Over the past five years farmers have absorbed a significantly greater proportion of the financial responsibility for cover cropping – as a percentage of the total cover cropping costs, the farmer’s share of the costs has risen from 11% in 1993 to nearly 57% in 1998 (data source: “The Greenfields Cover Crop Program Evaluation,” by G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. et al, 1998). Yet none of these additional costs to farmers – costs incurred because Delta is part of the internationally significant Pacific Flyway – are reimbursed by the consumer. A potato is still a potato, though it is grown in a habitat sensitive area and in a wildlife friendly manner. The market value fails to reflect the added costs of good land stewardship through cover cropping, though society clearly benefits from the values derived from such farming practices.
Members of the Delta community believe that the Greenfields’ Communication Program should be reshaped to address this larger market issue (“The Greenfields Cover Crop Program Evaluation,” by G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. et al, 1998). Strategies suggested to meet this challenge include highlighting the project in print, on television, or in brochures and labels, and distributing information with the produce, emphasizing the cooperation and contribution of farmers who participate in the Greenfields Project, as well as other stewardship programs administered by DF&WT. Highlighting this aspect of the program to the public at large, is seen as a way to enhance education and awareness of the issues and opportunities associated with wildlife and agriculture, but would also require increased investment in this element of the program. Ultimately, stronger public support and recognition for the project is necessary to ensure Greenfields remains a long-term presence in Delta, and to ensure that agriculture and wildlife remain viable.
In 1990, Greenfields was formally established as a cost sharing cover crop program for Delta farmers to address the issues of soil conservation, crop damage, land productivity and wildlife. The project was initiated by the Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at the University of British Columbia, and supported by The Delta Farmers’ Institute (DFI), Canadian Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee (BBCC).
The Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust (DF&WT) was formed shortly after the initiation of the Greenfields Project. The DF&WT has a Board of Directors made up of three members from the DFI, three members from the BBCC, and two members at large. The DF&WT has been managing the Greenfields Project since 1995. To meet the objectives of the Greenfields project, three program components – the Field Program, the Monitoring and Evaluation Program, and the Communication Program – were developed.
There is consensus among the farming community and others that the objectives of the Field Program component of Greenfields are being met. Farmer participation with the cover-cropping program has remained high since Greenfields was established in 1990. Overall, the Farm Program is supported by participating members of the farm community and is considered an appropriate approach to soil and habitat conservation.
The Monitoring Program has identified important elements that influence the intensity of winter waterfowl grazing. These elements include timing of planting, and the type and height of cover crops, as well as grazing preferences and the amount of surface water present on farm fields. These findings have emphasized to farmers the importance of planting cover crops as early in fall as possible, and have allowed the Trust to recommend a range of crop varieties that have been shown to withstand grazing under a variety of conditions. Monitoring the factors that influence waterfowl grazing is important to evaluating the Project’s benefits to soil and wildlife, and in advising farmers of best long term strategies and management practices.
The effectiveness of the Communication Program strategies, such as school visits, farm tours, brochures and colouring books have been recognized as important educational tools. Yet, to reach the wide and diverse audience of participating farmers, farmer community members, local, rural, and urban public, regional public, environmental and wildlife interest organizations and individuals, higher profile strategies may be required (“The Greenfields Cover Crop Program Evaluation,” by G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. et al, 1998). Further outreach and education would help to increase awareness of this important land stewardship practice in Delta and beyond.
To instill the awareness of economic and ecological balance, and to promote sustainable agricultural practices and land stewardship, generally the Greenfields Project (as recommended by “The Greenfields Cover Crop Program Evaluation,” by G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. et al, 1998) should continue to focus on
- promoting stewardship of the agricultural uplands and the Delta estuary as part of a healthy landscape throughout the Boundary Bay area
- employing alternative land use practices, such as cover cropping, that maintain and expand the coexistence of agriculture and wildlife
- enhancing the extension/communication activities to increase public awareness of agriculture and wildlife issues in Delta.
Greenfields is an important component to the conservation of farmland and wildlife habitat in the Boundary Bay area. By increasing public awareness and support, and by monitoring wildlife and land use values, Greenfields will succeed in influencing the long-term existence of farmland and wildlife in Delta.
Acknowledgements
The DF&WT, a non-profit, charitable society has been fundamental to the management and promotion of Greenfields, and other farmland stewardship projects. Alongside the DF&WT, many individuals and organizations have cooperated to make the Greenfields Project a successful farm stewardship program. The consultation and cooperation – such as time, valuable assistance, and insight – members of the community have provided, has been instrumental in ensuring long-term progress towards agriculture and wildlife co-existence in the Fraser Delta.
The partners and interest groups involved in Greenfields Project since its initiation include
- Canadian Wildlife Service
- Environment Canada
- Ducks Unlimited Canada
- The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (Agroecology)
- University of British Columbia
- The Delta’s Farmers’ Institute
- The Boundary Bay Conservation Committee
- Wildlife Habitat Canada
- Fraser River Action Plan
- Environment Canada
- BC Waterfowl Society
- The Delta Agricultural Society
- Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust.
The Greenfields Project Case Study is based upon information from “The Greenfields Cover Crop Program Evaluation,” by G.G. Gary Runka Land Sense Ltd. in association with W.R. Holmes and Associates and Strix Environmental Consulting, May 1998 – a report prepared for Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust and Canadian Wildlife Services; and “The Greenfields Project 1995/96: An Investigation of Cover Crops and Waterfowl Use in the Boundary Bay Area,” editor S. Smith, contributing authors: W.D. Temple, S. Smith, A. Bomke, & S. Traichel.
Contacts
Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust
Margaret Paterson
Office Coordinator
205 – 4882 Delta Street
Delta, British Columbia Canada
V4K 2T8
Phone: (604) 940-3392
Fax: (604) 946-7820
Email: dfwt@axion.net
Partners
The Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust’s Greenfields Project, including research trials and related monitoring and evaluation, is currently sponsored by
- Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada
- The Delta Agricultural Society
- The Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia
- Ducks Unlimited Canada
- The British Columbia Waterfowl Society
- The McLean Foundation.
Project Partner Contacts
Canadian Wildlife Service
Pacific Wildlife Research Centre
Habitat Conservation
5421 Robertson Rd. RR1
Delta , BC CAN
V4K 3N2
Phone: (604) 940-4700
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of British Columbia
Agroecology
MacMillan Building
2357 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC CAN
V6T 1Z4
Phone: (604) 822-1219
Fax: (604) 822-6394