ALUS Ontario East

Where Agriculture and Nature Meet

ALUS came to eastern Ontario in 2012. Today, ALUS Ontario East operates within the boundaries of the Raisin-South Nation Source Protection Region. The program is led by the local Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC) with assistance from its legal entity, the Raisin Region Conservation Authority. The PAC is comprised of members from both the local farming and environmental communities. 

 ALUS Ontario East works with farmers and ranchers to enhance ecosystem services on marginal, inefficient, and fragile areas and on lands that can be managed in a different manner through projects that best suit their farming operations. ALUS participants receive an annual payment for every acre enrolled in the program in exchange for managing and maintaining projects that increase ecosystem services to that benefit both their farm and wider community.

 ALUS Ontario East supports the establishment, management, and maintenance of various innovative and sustainable projects such as wetlands and beaver baffles, erosion control, buffers, windbreaks, grasslands, modified grazing practices, livestock exclusion fencing, and more. ALUS is voluntary and non-prescriptive, which allows for increased flexibility when designing projects to suit any farming operation. The program is always on the lookout for interesting and innovative project ideas that will bring together agriculture and nature.

ALUS Est Ontario East Community Logo_full coulour-01

Community Links

ALUS Ontario East Coordinator

Brendan Jacobs

Brendan Jacobs

18045 County Rd 2, PO Box 429, Cornwall ON K6H 5T2
[email protected]
(514) 961-5430
PAC Members

, resident of North Dundas

Bill Smirle, resident of North Dundas

Ian Walker, resident of Alfred and Plantagenet

Stephen Burgess, resident of South Glengarry

Rene Lalonde, resident of North Stormont

Lisa Van De Ligt, Advisor, Raisin Region Conservation Authority

Ronda Boutz, Advisor, South Nation Conservation

Elaine Kennedy, PAC Facilitator, Advisor, SD&G Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association

Jean Saint-Pierre, Advisor, Boisés Est

Mikayla Stinson, Advisor, Ducks Unlimited Canada

Benoit Lebeau, Advisor, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Alyssa Cousineau, Advisor, ALUS

Participating Farms

Coming Soon

News & Events

Ron Toonders, Switchgrass for Grassroots Resilience

Ron Toonders, Switchgrass for Grassroots Resilience

Farmers like Ron Toonders are building resilient practices that benefit nature and the agricultural landscape in Ontario   This photo depicts the root system of switchgrass, Panicum virgatum. (Grown at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas) In the hot summer months,...

Currie McIntosh; Happily Creating Habitat at Haywood Farms

Currie McIntosh; Happily Creating Habitat at Haywood Farms

The McIntosh family is promoting biodiversity through their environmental projects on their farm in Ontario Currie McIntosh stands in front of the stormwater retention pond project he constructed with ALUS in 2020. In the fall of 2023, farmers and ranchers visited...

Seed Superstar: Marc Bercier Grows Environmental Outcomes

Seed Superstar: Marc Bercier Grows Environmental Outcomes

Building on family legacy, Marc Bercier manages the landscape for the benefit of his community and future generations.    ALUS team members visit Marc's project in St.Isidore during the October 2022 Eastern Jamboree.     Marc Bercier is a famer and businessman...

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