Farmer says fire ban rules are unreasonable
SHIP COVE — Sam Jesso doesn’t have a problem with the provincial ban on fires starting early this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, or with the fact he will need a permit to do any burning on his farmland.
What the Ship Cove farmer has a problem with is the limitations those regulations put on him in terms of the area where he can conduct agriculture burning.
The Department of Fisheries and Land Resources told Saltwire Network in an email that the setting of fires for agriculture purposes is permitted provided permission to do is obtained from a forestry official with the department, and permits to burn for these purposes can be obtained at a local forestry and wildlife district office.
The department said the restrictions currently in place on fires apply to forested land and to land within 300 metres of forest land.
Jesso said that distance is unreasonable, and farmers should be exempt from it. He has voiced his concerns to the department, but says he is being ignored.
“What they’re asking for is not possible. Most of our fields around have got islands of trees for erosion purposes and for shelters for livestock. So, we’re burning around forests on our land.”
He emphasizes this is not Crown land but privately owned land belonging to his family and other owners that they utilize.
While there are forested areas around the land, Jesso said it is not heavily forested and most of the land on the peninsula is barren land.
“We’ve got lots of grass to burn. There’s old forestry on these fields and we have to burn it because you cannot mix the good grass with the old grass because it’s rotten.
“It’s got to be burned to use it for planting crops, for hay fields and for pastures.”
If left, he said, it could cause animals to get sick and cause disease and parasites to affect the soil. Burning will help rid the land of parasites, and he doesn’t want to spend a fortune on chemicals and pesticides.
If he can’t get the land ready, the hay he grows won’t be a good quality and he’ll have to buy more, he said, and he’ll also be limited in where he can plant.
Jesso’s family has been farming on the Port au Port Peninsula for many years and has always practiced controlled agriculture burning.
As a child he was taught the proper way to do it by his father.
“So, we’ve got that professional experience passed down from generations. If I’m out there burning a brush fire 30 or 40 feet away from the trees, I know it’s not going to burn the trees.”
He said he won’t burn because doing so could result in a fine and make those involved in firefighting uncomfortable to see a burn taking place.
But he said this is the time of year that’s best for burning because the ground is still wet.
Usually all burning is finished before the May 24 weekend.
Wayne Simmons, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, checked with staff at the federation and said no one had called to complain about the burning ban.
“Generally, not many people do that anymore anyways. Most of the commercial farms, they don’t use that practice. It would be a small backyard farmer or small farmer.”