Saskatchewan farmers will soon have access to environmental farm plan workbooks, but it remains to be seen how many will fill them out.
The Provincial Council of ADD Boards, made up of rural leaders who advise the provincial government, should have the final version of the workbook ready by January 2004, board member Glenn Blakley told delegates attending the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan midterm convention.
Producers are to voluntarily complete the plans as part of the federal government’s national environmental farm plan, which outlines strategies for issues such as pest management, land and water management and greenhouse gas emissions. Each province is developing its own program.
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Many farmers attending the convention expressed serious reservations about completing such a plan.
“The less I tell the government the better off I am,” said John Wagner, a delegate from the Rural Municipality of Piapot.
He also raised liability concerns over detailed documentation of his farming operation. That sentiment was echoed by many other APAS delegates.
“Environmental liability at this point seems to be a bottomless pit as far as money,” said Wagner.
Another delegate warned that the government could “go overboard” and use the plans as a weapon to dump a bunch of environmental clean-up costs on the backs of farmers.
“I hope that you’re going to be very, very careful on this thing,” he told Blakley.
The federal government is going ahead with its national plan whether farm groups like it or not, Blakley said, so it makes more sense to participate in developing the workbook than to criticize it from the sidelines.
“If we allowed the Sierra Club to develop it, I shudder to think what it would look like,” he told delegates.
During an interview after his presentation, Blakley said the liability issue raised by Wagner and others is a legitimate concern.
He was glad to see a resolution passed calling for federal and provincial legislation to mitigate liability risks associated with completing the workbooks.
But he also pointed out that a good plan executed with diligence could protect farmers against potential lawsuits by proving they use sound environmental practices.
“By doing a good job of it we are actually reducing some of the risk,” he said.
Delegates attending the convention also passed a resolution calling for financial incentives to be paid to farmers who fill out the workbooks.
Blakley estimates it will take a grain farmer about four hours to complete the plan. For a livestock producer, it will be closer to eight hours of work. Since the end result is for the public good, he said they should be compensated for that time.
He also assumes there will be money available through Ottawa’s agricultural policy framework for producers to change their operations to make them more “environmentally acceptable.”
Wagner thinks there will be more costs than benefits associated with the program, but he will be a reluctant participant in the environmental farm plan process.
“I anticipate that it will be voluntary to start with, but pretty soon you won’t be able to borrow money or you won’t be able to get a lot of other things unless you have this,” said the Maple Creek, Sask., farmer.
He also expects people will find loopholes within the regulations, as is the case with many regulated industries.
