Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 27/98) - A composting demonstration project will get federal funding, federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief said.

The project, to handle livestock and other agricultural compost waste material generated in the NWT, has been approved for $32,900.

The money comes from the NWT's $150,000 share of the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development funding.

The Territorial Farmers Association chose the composting project which is being run by Chris Gostick and Moira Green of Hay River.

Data collected from the project will be reviewed to determine viability of composting in the NWT.

The project is the first of its kind in the NWT and will be managed by the Hay River-based association.

It will handle waste from Hay River's two chicken barns, Dene Eggs and Northern Poultry, as well as sawdust from the North's forestry industry.

The manure and sawdust will be combined to create a nutrient-rich compost material which can be used as a soil supplement.

"The CARD fund was established to support projects that assist local agricultural producers adopt new and innovative technologies," Vanclief said.

"This project should have a positive impact on the handling of agricultural waste in the NWT where insufficient land base limits the spreading of waste in the traditional way."

CARD is a $60 million annual fund created in the 1995 federal budget.

Vanclief was in Hay River, Fort Resolution and Yellowknife July 21.

Territorial Farmers Association president Evellyn Coleman said she spoke with Vanclief about the need for more flexibility in the CARD program.

The program is set up to adapt to changing markets but the NWT is still in the developmental stage.

Agriculture in the NWT often means small parcels of land and first generation farms.