When Glenn Shaw spoke to farmers at a recent environmental planning meeting in Saskatoon, he admitted to plenty of unanswered questions surrounding the topic of environmental farm plans.
At the same time, he made one thing crystal clear. Some day, every farmer in Canada will have an environmental farm plan.
“Like it or not, environmental farm plans are coming,” said Shaw, a director with the federal government’s Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration.
“It’s going to be a requirement.”
Shaw is part of a federal team that is helping promote a greater environmental awareness on Canadian farms.
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His team is compiling a list of environmentally friendly management practices that deal with things like manure management, tillage, riparian protection, chemical application and petroleum storage.
Shaw, who has worked in the area of soil and water management for more than 32 years, said there will be financial rewards for farmers who improve their management practices and prove they are interested in protecting the rural environment.
For example, a beef producer who wants to protect a stream bank from erosion and contamination might qualify for a government payment that would help offset the costs of installing a fence and setting up an off-site watering system, he said.
Manitoba cattle producer Claire De’Athe said the concept of encouraging environmental stewardship is admirable, but after viewing the thick workbooks that have been developed in other provinces, she wonders whether burdening farmers with more paperwork will meet that objective.
“They won’t be welcomed,” said De’Athe, who farms near Carberry. “It’s too much work and expense for no gain. There are concerns about confidentiality and liability that have not been addressed and there is no guarantee this will work.
“Is a system that requires pages and pages and pages of documentation going to help reduce pollution or is it going to tie us up so we have less time to deal with the problems around our (farms)?” she asked.
Still, if farmers want to receive federal money for improving their management practices, they must buy into the environmental farm planning process.
“It’s going to be required to have an environmental farm plan before you can access any incentive monies,” Shaw said.
An environmental farm plan is a document that lists potential environmental hazards on a farm, including manure, pesticides, fuel and fertilizers.
For nearly two years, Ottawa has indicated that environmental farm plans will be a key component of its agriculture policy framework, the federal initiative that will revamp Canada’s agricultural policies. Federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief has said every farmer in Canada will have an environmental farm plan by 2008.
While many critics doubt that deadline will be met, the federal government is moving toward its objective.
Across the West, organizers are devising strategies and workbooks that will introduce farmers to environmental farm plans.
As part of the federal initiative, Shaw’s team has identified 13 possible categories in which incentives could be offered.
Those areas include manure storage, livestock wintering, runoff control, water well management, waste management, riparian protection, erosion control and pest management.
