GLASI FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

Through the month of February there has been a series of announcements from the Provincial government for the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (GLASI). The goal is to improve water quality within the Great Lakes Region.

The link below takes you to the GLASI funding information. There are 3 componants; Dust deflectors, Manure & Biosold application and Soil Health. The Dust Deflector and Manure & Biosolid program are open and running and back dates to purchases last spring but expires March 31, 2015. You can submit for these directly and it looks straight forward. Lots of good areas to tap into within that funding. 75% up to $25,000 for Manure and Biosolid application and 75% up to $3000 for Dust Deflectors. It only applies to a specific region (map is on their website). It is based on watersheds and loosely follows Highway 10. Forms and info brochure are attached to the link below.

The Soil Health is still being put together and is currently under a pilot program until the end of March to get the kinks worked out. The background work for Soil Health is similar to an environmental farm plan. Takes about 3 hours to complete and is done in conjunction with a Certified Crop Advisor. My understanding is Soil Health is a 2 layer program. Layer 1 requires minimal background work and provides minimal funding dollars- more info/knowledge based. Layer 2 requires a Soil Health audit and provides bigger dollars- more project/action based. The support cost share funding has not been announded yet just the intent but it will support erosion control measures, cover crops, minimum tillage modifications for example. There is likely something here for everyone . There are fees for the CCA to do the soil health audit and I believe the program pays those fees directly. Look for this to begin in April for 2015 projects. Stay tuned for more infomation on this one.

www.ontariosoilcrop.org/en/programs.htm