Dean Manning

“The land is there to look after us, so we need to work with and look after the land,” says Dean Manning. He and his wife Catherine operate a mixed farm in Falmouth, Hants County that includes a beef cow-calf operation, grain and vegetable crops, and a seasonal farm market where they sell their own produce.

With housing developments and a golf course literally just doors away from the farm, Manning has long operated by using the best management practices possible. Such dedication to the environment he lives and works in helps to protect the local land and water resources as well as protect wildlife habitat and make for good relationships with newly-rural neighbours.

For his efforts, Manning is one of five finalists in the first annual Farm Environmental Stewardship Award. This award was established to highlight producers who make good land, water and habitat stewardship a significant part of their farm operations. Eligible farmers are participants in the Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan, a voluntary program that helps farmers identify, assess, and reduce environmental risk on their farms. Since the program’s inception in 1999, more than 1270 farmers have become involved and developed Environmental Farm Plans for their operations.

The Mannings have long been dedicated to being good stewards of the environment. Manning says, “Having an on-farm market puts us front and centre in the public eye so we want to be good ambassadors for the farming community.” Not only does the market give customers a chance to support a local producer, it gives them the opportunity to see how their food is produced, and how farmers can successfully work with the land and nature.
Manning uses ecologically sound practices for each crop and operates his farm as naturally as possible. Greenhouse crops are grown in a mixture of manure, peat and straw, which are steam–pasteurized each spring before planting. Manning uses minimal chemical control on his field-grown vegetables and forages, and practices biological control to manage greenhouse pests. He mixes straw and old hay into manure before storing to reduce smell and the potential for runoff, and composts the product before spreading it on fields used for corn, grain and forage.
Manning is keenly interested in pasture management and winters part of his beef herd outdoors, using rotational grazing to keep the lands productive and minimize impact on wildlife and habitats. Watercourses on the farm’s lands are fenced to keep livestock out, and also have protective buffer zones around them. These riparian buffer zones teem with wildlife, as do the sections of woodland that have been left to function as shelterbelts, windbreaks and wildlife habitat.

There are always future goals for environmentally conscious farmers, depending on time and money requirements. Manning is looking at possible alternate sources of heat for his greenhouses, such as using biomass, solar or thermal energy. He acknowledges such improvements require time as well as financial investment, but says the benefits of such investments are definitely long-term and “for more than just our family.”

Asked what advice he would offer other farmers looking to be more environmentally proactive, Manning strongly advocates having an Environmental Farm Plan. He particularly likes having “another pair of eyes” come in and evaluate how he’s looking after his local environment. “There’s always something we can learn and do better,” he says. “It’s good to have an objective assessment of what we’re doing, and advice on how to improve our practices.” He especially likes having the written report to refer back to when planning future improvements on his farm.
Along with tending to his own livestock, crops and lands, Dean Manning acts as a grazing mentor with other farmers who are looking to use their pasturelands effectively and in environmentally beneficial ways. “Good management means better pasture growth which results in good livestock and better quality product,” he says. “You simply have to be a good land manager to be a successful producer.”

The Farm Environmental Stewardship Award is a part of the Environmental Farm Plan Program. It was created through a partnership of the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the NS Environmental Farm Plan Team and the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. The Environmental Farm Plan Program is an initiative under the Canada-Nova Scotia Growing Forward Agreement.