Community pasture proposal denied

KENILWORTH – The Grand River Conservation Authority has said no to farmers using Luther Marsh as a community pasture.

The Wellington County Cattlemen’s Association approached Wellington North councillors Lisa Hern and Steve McCabe around March, proposing a grazing pasture at Luther Marsh Wildlife Management Area.

GRCA staff met with the association and McCabe in June, and received a request last month.

Hern, the township’s GRCA representative on the board, told council on Oct. 5 conservation authority staff rejected the idea “for a variety of reasons.”

But staff is recommending changing a no-livestock policy, Hern told council, potentially allowing grazing in the future.

Staff is expected to bring a report itemizing conservation authority land that could work for grazing, through no changes have been proposed.

“A change in policy will be a victory,” Hern said. “This is really good news for young farmers, for the beef industry, and the environment.”

A community pasture is shared land, run by a non-profit, where farmers pay to graze cattle, Hern explained. 

There are 11 such pastures in the province, according to Hern, with a 12th planned on conservation land in Lambton County, and another in Dufferin County.

“It allows [young farmers] to enter the industry with very little capital,” Hern said of the model, which has existed for 60 years.

Managed pasture land also provides a habitat for threatened grassland birds, sequesters carbon and rebuilds marginal soil, Hern added.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I think we’re on a really good path,” she said.