Highlights

FEMS data show that:

• About 75% of farms with land areas adjacent to natural sources of water reported that at least a portion of these areas were vegetated. When vegetated, these areas were usually under permanent vegetation.

• Almost 60% of farms with grazing livestock reported that their livestock were not given access to surface water bodies, and slightly more than 90% reported not feeding livestock within 100 metres of surface water bodies during winter months.

• Among farms that adopted conservation measures to protect natural wetland areas, the most common conservation measures used were fencing and rotational grazing, being reported by 45.5% and 41.7% of farms, respectively.

• Most dairy farms with a liquid manure storage system disposed of the milkhouse wash water in the liquid manure storage system (66.1% of farms). The percentage of dairy farms that use their liquid manure storage system to dispose of milkhouse wash water increased with farm size.

• The most commonly used irrigation systems are sprinklers and guns. Fruit and vegetable farms reported the highest proportion of drip or trickle systems.

• About 36% of farmers tested their domestic water at least once every two years. Ontario farmers were the most inclined to test their well water regularly, as well as Canadian poultry and egg farmers.

• Beneficial management practices (BMPs) for water were fully or partly implemented on 31.0% of Canadian farms. Most other farms reported that they were not familiar with these practices or thought BMPs for water were not relevant to their operation.