Environmental Farm Plan Research Articles

A geospatial framework for the assessment and monitoring of environmental impacts of agriculture

The agriculture sector plays a critical role in global food security and economy, but it is also among the greatest contributors to environmental degradation and global warming through practices such as clearing of forests and wetlands, water management, and use of fertilizers and pesticides. This study proposes a geospatial framework for the systematic assessment and monitoring of environmental impacts of agriculture practices using agri-environmental impact indicators and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) method. Geospatial approaches are identified and synthesized for four key phases of the EIA method: (1) screening; (2) scoping; (3) impact prediction & assessment; and (4) impact management, monitoring & follow up. The study shows the potential of remote sensing and geospatial methods such as mapping, geostatistical interpolation, spectral indices, image classification, multi-criteria decision analysis, and GIS watershed analysis for the different EIA phases. The proposed framework can assess impacts at flexible spatial (within-farm up to the national level) and temporal scales (daily to annual). The framework was exemplified for Canada, where its use could integrate existing programs from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, such as environmental farm plans and agri-environmental indicators. The framework can be used by farmers, farmer organizations, environmental agencies, and consultancies, as well as provincial, territorial and federal agencies.

National-scale implementation of mandatory freshwater farm plans: a mechanism to deliver water quality improvement in productive catchments in New Zealand?

Reducing agriculturally derived diffuse contaminant losses (via non-point sources) from land to water has proven difficult for decades. Owing to the diversity and complexity of factors controlling contaminant loss rates and pathways, regulation must be flexible and reflect farm- and region-specific variation. Environmental farm planning schemes are recognised globally as offering a tailored, farm-specific implementation tool that can assess, balance and deliver multiple environmental objectives, while empowering farmer behaviour change and development of social relationships. Nevertheless, uptake and success have been mixed internationally owing to their predominantly voluntary nature. We consider the implementation of freshwater farm plans at a national-scale and on a mandatory basis to deliver water quality reform. In a world-first approach this has recently been legislated for in New Zealand, but the implementation process is still currently being developed and finalised. We advocate that on-farm mitigation actions in freshwater farm plans should be quantitative, risk-based, and focussed on the most significant catchment water quality priorities, and their cost-effectiveness. We propose that minimum national standards and metrics are a prerequisite to ensuring auditable and time-bound outcomes, as is building the capacity, capability, and community practice required to deliver and audit them. National-scale coverage presents an opportunity to record and measure how good practice can improve water quality, but should be part of wider integrated farm planning that incorporates other elements of the farm business to add value and minimise compliance costs.

Reflecting on the journey of environmental farm planning in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Environmental farm planning in New Zealand dates to the 1950s when soil conversation plans were first undertaken. Since then the extent and complexity of whole farm sustainability along with regulatory drivers and environmental compliance targets has increased. The public, and consumers, both domestically and internationally, are placing ever increasing demands and expectations on farmers to deliver high-quality produce with strong environmental values. Regulatory reform is challenging, with the details around the implementation process varying and far from clear. National-scale freshwater farm plans will be mandatory and enforceable in New Zealand within a few years. How this will deliver a clearer pathway to integrated resource management and provide the primary sectors with a tool to be world leaders in environmental management will depend upon plans being farmer centric and owned and adding value to their business.

Canada’s Environmental Farm Plan: Evaluating Implementation, Use of Services, and the Influence of Social Factors

Canada’s Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) is a voluntary, self-administered education and risk assessment tool that assists farmers in developing customized action plans to address environmental risks on their farms. During 2010-11 a study was undertaken in Ontario to evaluate the level of implementation of the EFP, the use of related services and resources, and social factors influencing implementation and services used. A confidential survey of 189 Ontario farmers with EFPs revealed high levels of implementation and significant investments of time and money to reduce environmental risks and improve environmental conditions. Farmers completed or were implementing 67.5% (median) of their action plans, up from 55% reported in a survey in 1999. Farmers invested an average of C$69,600 per farm in agri-environmental activities (of which 73% was drawn from their own funds) and spent 130 hours of their time per farm. Percent implemented, time and cost are all much higher compared to the survey in 1999. Farmers used many existing services in preparing and implementing their EFPs. In 2010, social factors significantly influenced motivation, preferences and service needs including education, age and main commodity produced. Also in 2010, 95% percent of farmers reported perceived environmental improvements on their farm operations. The results emphasize the importance of combining risk assessment, education and financial incentives as well as offering a range of program services to appeal to the varied needs of different farmers.

An institutional analysis method for identifying policy instruments facilitating the adaptive governance of drought

Situate within new institutionalism literature, this paper builds a complex system model of institutional analysis for adaptive governance. This model combines Young’s institutional environmental analysis method (2005), elements of subsequent environmental governance projects models, and ideas of multiple institutional levels and drivers. By applying the model, policy instruments are identified that build agricultural producer livelihoods improving their adaptive capacity to respond to climate change and drought. In relation to three case studies in Canada, Chile, and Argentina, policy instruments that deliver co benefits to improve agricultural producer technological, social, human, economic, and natural capital include crop insurance, income stabilization instruments, farm water infrastructure grants, environmental farm planning (improving soil management), drought predictions and alerts, and watershed management plans. Missing instruments included international instruments of mitigation and adaptation through disaster risk reduction, climate change mitigation instruments, and involvement of people in review and assessment of instruments in the context of climate change (iterative anticipatory governance). The model allows for instrument redesign through interdisciplinary interaction with the agricultural and policy community, reviewing climate change scenarios, identifying missing and weak instruments and dimensions of adaptive governance.

Evaluation of Agri‐Environmental Programs: Can We Determine If We Grew Forward in an Environmentally Friendly Way?

AbstractThe environmental elements of the quinquennial agricultural policy frameworks are probably the largest agri‐environmental programs in Canada and have been running for about 15 years. Formal evaluation of their effectiveness has either not been done, or is not available for researchers and policy analysts to compare with other agri‐environmental policy efforts. This address introduces this problem and attempts to examine evaluative approaches using Alberta's Growing Forward 1 and 2 environmental stewardship programs. While this attempt has uncovered significant data issues, there is evidence that program managers targeted funds to areas where water quality risks are of concern. The review also questions the requirement that producers eligible for funding must have an Environmental Farm Plan. After 15 years of having this requirement, I argue that it's time for Alberta's environmental stewardship program to relax this.Les éléments environnementaux des cadres politiques agricoles quinquennaux représentent probablement les plus vastes programmes agroenvironnementaux au Canada et opèrent depuis environ quinze ans. L'évaluation formelle de leur efficacité n'a soit pas été entreprise, ou n'est pas disponible pour les chercheurs et analystes politiques afin qu'ils les comparent à d'autres efforts en matière de politique agroenvironnementale. Cet énoncé présente ce problème et tente d'examiner les approches évaluatives utilisées par les programmes albertains de gérance environnementale Cultivons l'avenir 1 et 2. S'il est vrai que cette tentative a révélé de considérables problèmes de données, des preuves démontrent que les gestionnaires de programmes dirigeaient les fonds vers les régions où la qualité de l'eau est en jeu. L'évaluation s'interroge aussi au sujet de l'exigence selon laquelle les producteurs admissibles au financement doivent présenter un plan agroenvironnemental. Ayant été requise pendant quinze ans, je propose que le programme de gérance environnementale de l'Alberta assouplisse cette exigence.

Adaptive Governance of Dynamic Social-Ecological Systems: The Case of the Ontario Environmental Farm Plan (1992–2011)

The sustainability of environmental stewardship programs is an ongoing concern. The fluidity of multilevel, polycentric social-ecological systems requires partnerships to be flexible and adaptive. As society changes, the foundation of stewardship programs also shift. In this article, Glasbergen's (2011) Ladder of Partnerships is applied to the analysis of three governance regime shifts in the agroecosystem stewardship program, the Ontario Environmental Farm Plan (OEFP). Six key-informant interviews with pivotal actors within each phase of the program were conducted along with a review of documents and program data. The study finds that changes in the context for, and the governance of, OEFP are shifting the foundations of the original program. The adverse consequences of these changes for the viability of the program, illustrates the need to understand governance issues. The study supports the call for program analysis that is sensitive to the evolution of the system in question. Specifically, the shifting baseline of social norms and policies that affect the sustainability of stewardship programs that are governmental civil society partnerships. The study concludes that the co-option of bottom up processes and programs by top down government interventions can lead to loss of integrity and legitimacy of the programs.

Factors influencing participation in the Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan Program

Abstract There is growing interest in Nova Scotia's Environmental Farm Plan (NS EFP) program among farmers and policy makers because of several reasons. First, effectiveness of standardized or uniform beneficial management practices in mitigating the negative environmental impacts from agriculture is limited by inherent heterogeneities in agricultural production systems. In addition, there is heightened interest in farmers generating ecological goods and services to society. This study investigates the determinants of participation in the NS EFP program. A discrete choice model of NS EFP participation was applied to a sample of 83 farmers (representing a 31% response rate). To increase relevance of the study to program administrators, the study also examined farmers’ use of various channels and sources of information on farm conservation practices. The most used sources of information on farm conservation practices include a mix of interpersonal sources and government agencies. Although online information (especially those available for free) appears to be gaining popularity in usage, overall, electronic and computer channels of information (especially radio and television) were used less compared with traditional channels of communicating farm conservation information (such as newsletters and agricultural magazines). Regression analysis suggests that farm characteristics (i.e., farm type, farm size, farm income) and farmer capacity variables (i.e., specialized training and knowledge from EFP program information sessions and workshops, and on-farm stewardship demonstrations) were significant determinants of environmental farm planning.

An Organisational Discussion of Incomplete Contracting and Transaction Costs in Conservation Contracts

AbstractConservation in the agricultural sector is difficult to achieve. A primary complicating factor in achieving conservation is the large number of public good environmental services provided by large numbers of individuals acting under diverse economic and ecological conditions. The complexity of the problem implies that additional consideration must be given to transaction cost economics and the theory of incomplete contracting. Drawing on insights from organisational economics, this paper argues that conservation policy and research could be improved with explicit consideration of the effects of ‘holdup problems’, transaction costs and trust on the provision of conservation services. ‘Bottom‐up’ approaches are promising as they directly incorporate these organisational issues, and the paper concludes with an example of a ‘bottom‐up’ conservation programme, the Ontario Environmental Farm Planning programme.

What motivates farmers to participate in the Nova Scotia environmental farm plan program? Evidence and environmental policy implications

Program stakeholders are interested in better understanding farmers' experience, and factors that affect farmer participation in the relatively new Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program, implemented in several provinces in Canada. To increase relevance of the research findings to EFP program administrators and policy makers, the research methods emphasised determining whether relationships exist among program-related variables, and how such relationships affect farmers' decision choices and behaviour. Traditional farmer and farm attributes that have contrasting effects in agricultural innovation adoption and conservation management (namely age, and formal education completed), were not associated with EFP program participation. Farm income, years of farming experience, and type of agribusiness managed were associated with participation in the Nova Scotia EFP program. Although program participants tended to have higher incomes, overall, non-financial considerations dominated monetary considerations in Nova Scotia farmers' reasons for participating in the Nova Scotia EFP. Helping to publicize positive farm stewardship practices was reported as the most important reason for participating in the EFP scheme, followed by its use to help improve relationships with non-farming neighbours, and to comply with government environmental regulations. In contrast, and somewhat a surprising finding, minimizing potential farm environmental risk, program administrators' raison d'être for promoting the NS EFP, was ranked the lowest, with no respondent rating that as a “very important” or “extremely important” reason for participating in the EFP program.

The Contributions of Stewardship to Managing Agro-Ecosystem Environments

Concerns about the management of agro-ecosystems in Ontario Canada have been precipitated by the increasing intensity of agriculture operations and concerns about its impact on the environment and human health. The management of agro-ecosystems for sus-tainability is particularly challenging due to their inherent features and the complex web of institutional arrangements in which they are set. This paper focuses on the concepts of regulation and stewardship. The conttibution of the environmental farm plan (EFP) program to environmental management in Ontario farms is specifically examined. The EFP program was initiated by farmers to minimize environmental impacts from farming practices; it is voluntary and founded upon the principles of stewardship. Results of a survey conducted with participants in the EFP program demonstrate that appreciable measures are being taken to manage environmental impacts from farming. The contributions of stewardship to managing agro-ecosystems are explored in the conclusion.

Accounting precautionary measures in agriculture through pathway analysis: the case of the Environmental Farm Plan

Stewardship programs are an important element of agroecosystems management. These programs are confronted with the difficult challenges of demonstrating their positive impacts on the environment. This paper argues that under the precautionary principle, evaluation of stewardship programs should be aimed at identifying risks mitigated, as opposed to actual changes in environmental conditions. The Ontario Environmental Farm Plan Program is presented as a case study. A pathways model is developed and applied to the case. It demonstrates the types of risks mitigated, a way to account for preventative actions, and insights into how future evaluations based on the precautionary principal can be undertaken.

Farm management systems and voluntary action: what can Germany learn from Canada?

Following regulation EC 1782/2003, a policy scheme aimed at supporting farmers' compliance with societal requirements of sustainable land use was set up in Germany. Core elements of the measure are the introduction and voluntary application of Farm Management Systems (FMS) and the accompanying advisory services. This paper critically assesses the potentials of the German scheme with the help of concepts from organisational management, extension and motivational psychology. As a reference point, Canadian experiences with an environmental FMS - the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) programme in Ontario - are presented and reviewed. Here, voluntary participation by farmers is a result of personal motivation, complex social interactions and targeted support. Finally, consequences of the implementation of and research on the German policy scheme are discussed.

Environmental whole farm management plans: Their character, diversity, and use as agri-environmental indicators in New Zealand

This paper reports on a nationwide survey of environmental farm plan programmes and plan characteristics, towards determining New Zealand's (NZ's) capability and eligibility for reporting on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) environmental whole farm management plan agri-environmental indicator. Considerations regarding the validity of the indicator are discussed. Environmental farm planning in NZ is widespread, fragmented, and diverse. Nine of NZ's 16 regional authorities have environmental farm plan programmes involving 20 different types of environmental farm plans. Potentially half of NZ's total area of farmland is included, but this is reduced by limited and selective use of environmental farm plans as policy instruments. Three authorities are capable of readily reporting the number and coverage of their environmental farm plans; six would need to manually compile the information. Compliance monitoring is mostly informal, but necessary for checking the implementation of plan works and actions. Eligibility of NZ environmental farm plans cannot be determined until the OECD define acceptance standards. A contemporary definition of environmental farm plans is proposed, along with additional criteria necessary to ensure such plans are credible indicators of issue ownership, adoption of best management practice, and landscape changes intended to improve environmental quality.

Canada's environmental farm plans: transatlantic perspectives on agri‐environmental schemes

Evaluation of Ontario's Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) scheme, launched in 1993, provides an opportunity for comparisons with agri‐environmental measures instituted in the European Union and other parts of North America. The EFP has a strong ‘bottom‐up’ dimension in that it is farmers’ organizations that have been central both to the scheme's instigation and to its ongoing management. This has affected the nature of the actions taken by individual farmers participating in the scheme. These actions are reviewed, especially in terms of the participants’ attitudes towards stewardship of the land, environmental outcomes, cross‐compliance measures, barriers to participation and the role of statutory regulation. Some contrasts are drawn with the greater ‘top‐down’ controls exerted in several EU agri‐environment schemes, with the latter's promotion of extensification and the changing role of farmers as ‘producers of countryside’ in a multi‐functional agricultural system. The diffusion of EFP schemes throughout Canada is noted and is cited as confirming the maintenance of fundamentally different attitudes to the development of farm‐based environmental actions compared with those adopted in the EU.

Ontario’s Environmental Farm Plan: Evaluation and research agenda

This paper analyses the operation of the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) scheme in Ontario, Canada, a voluntary agri-environment scheme established in 1993. Previously unpublished data and interviews with farmers, leaders of farmers’ organisations and government officials are used to detail participation rates, geographical spread and method of operation. Largely developed by farmers’ organisations, the scheme has focused on soil management, water quality and storage/disposal of agricultural wastes. The environmental actions associated with these activities are discussed, revealing both successes and limitations. Distinctions are drawn with agri-environmental schemes in the European Union, and a broader context for the EFP is provided with respect to the proposed post-productivist transition of agri-food systems and the need to examine the way these systems are regulated. A need for further systematic research is proposed, specifically with respect to barriers to participation, the voluntary nature of the scheme, financial incentives and the resultant environmental impacts.

Environmental farm planning in Ontario: exploring participation and the endurance of change

The Ontario Environmental Farm Plan Programme (EFP) represents a significant departure from previous agri-environmental initiatives in Canada. In this programme, the focus is not on the promotion and adoption of any particular farming innovation, but rather on the completion of a farm-level environmental appraisal and the development of a farm-specific environmental action plan. As with more traditional schemes, there is interest in understanding how the programme is performing and in documenting outcomes. Evidence suggests that a significant proportion of farmers who enter the programme complete only part of the process or apply the evaluation to only certain aspects of their operation. In effect, there is variation in the way participants participate. This paper examines the nature of, and reasons for, differing levels of engagement among participants in the EFP Programme. Results from a survey of past participants suggests that farm-specific environmental conditions, farmers’ motivations concerning the environment, and positive perceptions of the programme itself are associated with more complete levels of participation. Underlying some of the revealed variations in participation are abiding concerns for the confidentiality of the process and more general concerns relating to the intervention of the state in agricultural land use.

The Economics of Water‐Conserving Technology Adoption in Tunisia: An Empirical Estimation of Farmer Technology Choice

Economic theory tells us that increases in the relative prices of natural resources should cause farmers to switch to techniques that use fewer farming resources. The adoption of resource-conserving technology is one possible response that can lead toward a more environmentally sustainable outcome. Do farmers respond to changes in natural resource prices and quality by adopting available resource-conserving technology? This article investigates a case study of decisions made by Tunisian farmers as to whether or not they should invest in water-conserving drip-irrigation technology as a function of natural resource prices and quality along with farm and farmer characteristics. In contrast to many studies of technology adoption this work uses both the standard revealed preference analysis of who adopts and a direct elicitation of the reasons for adoption or nonadoption by farmers. By reviving an ancient methodology—the direct question—to elicit real preferences from farmers the research goes beyond the restrictive assumptions of the commonly used random utility models. The combination of these techniques allows triangulation on the causes of technology adoption and helps insure that the results are more than a statistical artifact. (excerpt)

Multiple objective linear programming for environmental farm planning

We present a multiple objective linear programming model developed to consider a wide range of farming situations, which allows optimisation of profit or environmental outcome(s) or both. The modelling considers the problem of planning a farming system within a world where environmental considerations are increasing. The objective is to identify the best cropping and machinery options which are both profitable and result in improvements to the environment, depending upon the farm situation of market prices, potential crop yields, soil and weather characteristics. In particular, the model uses a flexible approach to choosing the machinery, timing of operations, crop rotations and levels of inputs. We show for a UK scenario, that large reductions in environmental impact can be achieved for reductions in farm profit which are insignificant relative to the annual variation due to yields and prices.

Risk of public disclosure in environmental farm plan programs: Characteristics and mitigating legal and policy strategies

Although various studies have shown that farmers believe there is the need for a producer-led initiative to address the environmental problems from agriculture, farmers in several Canadian provinces have been reluctant to widely participate in Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) programs. Few studies have examined the key issues associated with adopting EFP programs based on farmers’, as opposed to policy makers’, perspectives on why producers are reluctant to participate in the program. A study adapting Van Raaij’s (1981) conceptual model of the decision-making environment of the firm, and prospect theory on value functions associated with the gains and losses from risky choices can be used to characterize how farmers perceive potential risks in environmental farm planning. This framework can be used to assert that farmers are concerned about risks of public disclosure of potentially incriminating environmental information from farms because the EFP program requirements for identification and extensive documentation of farm information is perceived by farmers as facilitating the accessibility of environmental information to the public, and public investigative efforts. Although the EFP program does not explicitly generate information about the environmental conditions of a farm nor the disclosure of such information to the public, it creates the possibility of generating and divulging potentially incriminating information that the farmer may want to treat as confidential. Yet, alone, these risks of public disclosure concerns should not prevent farmers from participating in the EFP. Awareness of and participation in environmental farm planning can be increased if farmers and policy makers understand what the risks are, and how they arise. Aspects of the EFP process that have the potential to generate risk of public disclosure concerns relate to farm reviews, documentation and record keeping, and corrective action plans. There are legal and policy instruments that can offer various forms of protection and help minimize such risks, and these need to be assessed.