Politicians have avoided the topic like the plague, but many farmers have a lingering suspicion that if they do not voluntarily enter the environmental farm plan process, they may be forced to, say observers.
“I think part of the reason Alberta farmers have embraced this is that we have a tendency to try to do things before the government legislates,” Wild Rose Agricultural Producers executive director Rod Scarlett said. “The way it is set up, it is self-regulated and not heavy handed. That is more farmer-friendly.”
Program administrators such as Wanda McFadyen, executive director of the Farm Stewardship Association of Manitoba, emphasize that there are no on-site inspections and farmers implement their program at their own pace.
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“There are no right or wrong answers, just answers that work on your farm,” she said.
But it is clear there are pressures to increase the obligation on farmers to comply.
In a paper on the program prepared last year for a national meeting of environmental farm planners, Melfort, Sask., lawyer and farmer Mel Annand noted that some farmers are suspicious that the program is a step toward the 20-year-old requirement in the U.S. farm bill that access to program payments depends on whether the farm has a soil conservation or set-aside plan.
And farmers’ non-farm neighbours are watching to make sure the voluntary nature of EFPs is working.
“If these non-farm rural residents cannot be satisfied by the voluntary nature of the environmental farm plan measures, further regulation of agriculture may be imminent,” Annand wrote.
There is agreement from Winnipeg-based consumer advocate Jenn Hillard of Consumer Interest Alliance Inc., a lobby with a major emphasis on food nutrition and safety issues.
She supports the EFP program but hopes the next generation is tougher.
“If it gets renewed, and I hope it does, I also hope we’ll be able to push the envelope a bit,” she said. “For example, I think it is a good idea that it be made a key to getting access to other government programs.”
Even without tougher government regulation, she said farmers increasingly will find that food companies demand environmental plans for their farm suppliers.
