New Siberia Farms completed an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) in the fall of 2022 to better prepare for extreme weather events.
New Siberia Farms is situated on the Sumas Prairie near Chilliwack, BC which experienced heavy flooding due to an atmospheric river in 2021. While the 99-year-old dairy was fortunate to experience minimal impacts from the flooding, the extreme weather event was the catalyst for the farm’s completion of an EFP the following year.
With roads closed, the flooding highlighted that the amount of manure storage on the property was simply inadequate for the dairy’s present needs. Generally, manure is either spread onto fields and cropland as fertilizer or stored for later use. Excess manure must be stored in another location or spread immediately. When both transferring and emergency spreading were not possible, the dairy didn’t have enough capacity to store their manure for a long enough period.
With their completed EFP, New Siberia Farms was eligible for cost-shared funding through the Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) Program. In 2024, they applied for and received funding to improve their manure storage facilities. With this new capacity the dairy will be able to capture more manure, which will prevent any emergency spreading when transferring is not possible, like during extreme weather events.
“This BMP project has provided a massive and immediate benefit and improved our management practices, as discovered in our EFP interview.” Tom Balakshin of New Siberia Farms says, “With increased storage, we will not have the stress of finding proper and adequate storage in the winter. Also, it will allow us to capture more manure, wastewater, and runoff.”
Tom says this upgrade will not just be good for the farm’s emergency preparedness but will also serve the dairy as it grows. “We are thrilled to have the extra storage not only for comfort during emergencies but for the needs of a growing farm! Thank you!”
Funding for the EFP and BMP Programs is provided by the Governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, under the Beneficial Management Practices Program. The programs are delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC.
