| | “In a sense, the Environmental Farm Plan [EFP] program is on the leading edge of change -- working with farmers in terms of awareness and education. And we’re able to do what we do because there are a lot of other partners that are equally willing and excited to work with farmers to implement practice change,” says Mike Slomp, Executive Director of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company, a private, non-profit company.
Slomp is referring to the EFP program’s position in the overall change process. Whether you’re switching to a different toothpaste or modifying your farming system, the decision to change usually involves several stages. Typically, you go from awareness that there are other options that may better suit your needs, to education about those options, to testing some of the preferred options, and then to implementing to the option that’s best for you.
The EFP process helps producers to identify their environmental risks and opportunities, and to develop their own plan to address those opportunities and risks. “Farmers have tools to deal with market risks and tools to deal with production risks. An environmental farm plan is a tool to deal with environmental risks,” explains Slomp. Other benefits from developing an environmental farm plan include: improving farm health and safety; maintaining water, air, soil and wildlife habitat quality; sustaining the land for the next generation; and reducing agricultural inputs.
The free, voluntary, confidential EFP process includes two workshops, a take-home workbook, and a review. Slomp notes, “Through this process, farmers learn about how their farming practices may impact the environment. They learn about specific practices that maintain or promote good soil, water, air and habitat quality. And they learn about what they’re already doing well and where they could make improvements.”
The company recently completed its first full year of delivering the EFP program to Alberta producers at workshops across the province. To date, 1500 farmers and ranchers have attended at least one workshop. “It’s really their enthusiasm for the program that has made the first year successful,” says Slomp.
Another key to the program’s success is the company’s network of partners, including the federal and provincial agriculture departments, commodity groups, non-government conservation agencies, agricultural service boards and agricultural fieldmen, and local businesses.
One example is the partnership with AESA’s Farm Based Program (see “Locally Based, Targeted Programming”). AESA’s provincial staff and the AESA-funded rural extension staff assist the EFP program by promoting the environmental farm plan concept to farmers, by providing technical assistance at EFP workshops, or by providing expertise to develop the EFP workbook. And they benefit from the results of the EFP process because they can target their extension efforts to address key issues identified by producers through the EFP process.
Slomp says, “AESA’s mandate is broader than just what EFPs are about. EFPs are a tool — we provide a tool that the AESA staff can use to help achieve their mandate.”
The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company is currently embarking on a new partnership with the federal and Alberta governments in the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program. That program will provide technical and financial assistance to help farmers implement beneficial management practices (see “From Plans to Actions”). To be eligible for assistance, a producer must have an environmental farm plan that has been reviewed and deemed acceptable.
Slomp says, “Our company provides the process for farmers to develop an environmental farm plan and to have it reviewed by a trained committee ofexperienced local farmers and ranchers. We’ll also tell EFP participants about the Farm Stewardship Program, and we’ll give application forms to those with a reviewed plan.”
The EFP program provides a sound basis for implementing specific beneficial management practices. Slomp explains, “In the EFP program, farmers do a complete inventory of how they are currently practising agriculture. The risks identified through that inventory usually indicate which particular management changes are most important for their operation.”
Other partnerships are making diverse contributions to the program, which range from lunch at a local EFP workshop to major funding support. Slomp says, “It’s rewarding to see so many groups working together to help bring about practice change.”
For more information about the Environmental Farm Plan program, call 1-866-844-2337 or visit www.albertaefp.com.
Hot off the press!
If you want information on practical, environmentally sustainable crop production, look no further! The Environmental Manual for Crop Producers in Alberta is now available. This attractive, informative manual is free of charge. It’s full of useful tips, and helpful diagrams, photographs and tables. It’s the latest manual in the Beneficial Management Practices series, developed through partnerships among government agencies, commodity groups and stewardship agencies, including AESA. The other manuals focus on hog, feedlot, cow-calf, dairy and poultry production. For copies of these manuals, call 1-800-292-5697 or visit www.agri.gov.ab.ca. |
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