NFU-O Farmers Believe Fields And Forest Belong Together

The Ontario Woodlander—An Ontario Woodlot Association Quarterly

By Max Hansgen, President, National Farmers Union – Ontario

Issue 113, Winter 2023

There is truth in the old adage that the best time to plant a tree was yesterday. National Farmers Union – Ontario (NFU-O) members have a whole forest of reasons to explain why planting trees, tending hedgerows, managing woodlots, and cultivating food forests on their farms have benefited themselves and their communities, their farm operations and local ecosystems, and even the long-term health of the planet.

“I do not need to work from ditch to ditch,” says NFU-O corn and soy farmer, Mike Dierckens from his 250 acre farm property east of Wheatley in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Chatham-Kent has less than 3.5% tree cover and is home to some of Canada’s only remaining stands of rare Carolinian forest. The Municipality recently voted to remove a temporary bylaw prohibiting farmers from clearcutting woodlots above a quarter acre in size. The NFU-O, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, and the Ontario Woodlot Association had jointly advocated for the bylaw’s extension, arguing that the protection of forest and farmland go hand-in-hand.

Dierckens sees the approach of clearcutting woodlots and hedge rows to gain an extra few acres for cultivation as missing the big picture for the on-farm and regional environment. Dierckens reforested 3.5 acres on his property almost 30 years ago. He chose his woodlot plot as its sandy soil was not super productive, and bigger machinery made it dicult to manoeuvre in the area. Now, silver maple, walnut, oaks, and ash tower up to 50-feet above Dierckens and his grand-daughter, Olivia. The woodlot is thick enough to support a variety of wildlife, including rabbits, squirrels, foxes, and deer. A hedgerow, increasingly rare in Chatham-Kent, shelters his crops and his home from strong westerly winds.

In nearby Rodney, Elgin County, former NFU-O President, Don Ciparis explains that his county used to have over 200 families growing tobacco. The once lucrative crop incentivized the maintenance of wind breaks and farmers felt little need to bulldoze their woodlots. Now, as the family farms are disappearing and large cash crop operations have taken over, Ciparis has witnessed the loss of woodlots and wind breaks; still, a clearcutting bylaw has helped protect the estimated 22% tree cover in the county.

Ciparis, a former tobacco farmer who transitioned to a corn, soy, and winter wheat operation, has maintained multiple woodlots on his 350+ acres of property for over 40 years. The woodlots vary in size from two to nine acres and are home to maple, beech, black cherry, white and red oak, and Ciparis’ favourite, tulip trees. His woodlots have been selectively logged in 1984 and 2005, and undergo periodic thinning, but Ciparis always leaves behind seed and “mother” trees to support future growth. Three of his woodlots have Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) projects on them to help increase their biodiversity.

For Ciparis, the benefits of his woodlots and hedgerows are multi-fold. “I am convinced that pollinator health improvements by active ALUS forest projects nearby have increased my corn and soy yields,” says Ciparis. “I also sincerely believe that promoting diversity and having woodlots on my farm properties moderates the local climate, keeps air temperatures a little cooler, and supports carbon sequestration.”

And what benefits biodiversity also brings personal dividends. “Walking through my woodlots just makes me feel good and supports my mental health,” adds Ciparis. Debbe Crandall, NFU-O member and co-owner of Mount Wolfe Farm, nestled in the Oak Ridges Moraine in Peel Region, could not agree more. In fact, the agro-ecological benefits of having up to 80% of their 90-acre farm property forested is what makes it possible for them to employ over five people fulltime, oer work experience to WWOOFers*, and to feed over 100 families on just three acres of rotating and fallowed farmland.

Crandall, along with her three sisters (Marce Showell, Sheilagh Crandall, and Sarah Haney) own the Mount Wolfe Farm business, and Sheilagh’s daughter, Sarah Dolamore, is their busy farm manager. When the sisters’ parents purchased the property back in 1966 the previous owner complained that it was not a very productive farm. At the time, there was virtually no forest cover, just a small woodlot for fuel, some natural creek cover, and patches of Scots pine around the farmhouse. During the spring snowmelt, a veritable river raced down the laneway to the drive shed.

Crandall’s parents, working closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources, took an ecosystem approach to reforest the property. Since 1968, over 10,000 trees have been planted on Mount Wolfe Farm. Crandall remembers following a little tractor ploughing exposed trenches as she and her siblings planted the saplings and tamped down the soil. Now these pioneer woodlots of spruce and red and white pines are a towering part of the landscape, and are integrated with magnificent maples and oak. The spring melt river that used to flood their laneway is long gone as a network of tree roots allow the rain and snowmelt to remain captured in the soil.

“If you’re a farmer struggling with a lack of water, plant trees,” advices Crandall, “they are a tool to make water available to us.”

In addition to holding water in reservoir for biodiversity, Mount Wolfe Farm forests protect the farm fields from soil erosion and have created a wind-sheltered microclimate conducive to tender crops. The trees also provide nesting sites for the birds who keep the insects at bay.

Mount Wolfe Farm is exploring with experts—including other NFU-O farmers— the possibilities of using keylines* to deliver water along their slopped topography, adding switch grass to increase water retention and soil health, and creating food forests to diversify their food production. Crandall also hopes to connect with local Indigenous peoples to learn more about how they would have used the hilly Oak Ridges Moraine landscape to grow and gather food.

Having watched the trees she helped plant grow into a life sustaining forest has taught Crandall to be the environment’s ally and not its exploiter. “These trees are my friends. I walk among them and feel very close and connected,” reflects Crandall. “They teach me that we should be in service to this planet because they are in service to this planet.”

For NFU-O members, forests and farmland belong together. If not yesterday, plant a tree today!

• The NFU-O is an accredited farm organization and a direct member organization of farmers and supporters that has advocated for farmers across Ontario and Canada since 1969.

* Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, Canada (WWOOF Canada) is part of a worldwide eort to link visitors with organic farmers, promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices. (https:// wwoof.ca/en/)
* Keyline design is a landscaping technique of maximizing the beneficial use of the water resources of a tract of land. (Wikipedia)