A national sample of Canadian farmers and ranchers will be asked this winter their attitudes toward an up-and-coming aspect of farm policy on ecological services.
That means the benefits that society reaps from good environmental practices on the land, from unpolluted water and erosion control to productive land and well-maintained rural countryside.
Agriculture Canada has awarded Ottawa-based conservation group Wildlife Habitat Canada $191,000 to survey farmers and analyze the results. The polling firm Environics will conduct the survey of 1,500 farmers and ranchers.
“It is a sample size large enough to allow us to do some regional analysis as well as national,” said WHC acting president Lynn McIntyre. “We are designing the questions now.”
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Some interim results could be ready for release at a mid-winter environmental meeting in Manitoba.
He said the findings will help the government design environmental policies and incentives for farmers who produce ecological goods and services.
Potential compensation
McIntyre said the debate over how best to compensate farmers and encourage environmentally friendly farm practices is between the American model of a limited program centred on land set-aside and the more expansive European Union model of subsidies connected to land management, countryside maintenance, humane animal treatment and food safety practices, as well as conventional environmental stewardship practices.
“I think those are the two models being looked at and it is too early to say which will be the model here but I suspect it will be some combination,” he said. “I think what this survey will do is get a sense for policy makers of what farmers and ranchers are willing to do and that will help the discussion of what taxpayers are willing to support them in doing.”
