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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2018


National EFP program still a work in progress BC participants call for details to make concept a reality


Story by RONDA PAYNE OTTAWA – The second National Environmental


Farm Plan summit held in Ottawa in early November was positive, but BC delegates feel the proposed program needs more concrete information to keep it moving forward. Geoff Hughes-Games, program manager with


ARDCorp, and Dawson Creek grain farmer Rick Kantz were among five from BC who attended the summit. Both felt the meeting was positive but that reporting to delegates needs to include solid information and steps to move forward to be successful. “We didn’t have enough hard facts as to what [a national environmental farm plan] would look like to move it further ahead than last year,” Kantz says. “I’d like to see it move forward faster. I’d like to see some hard facts – a little bit more on what the requirements would be.”


The national plan is intended to build on existing


provincial and territorial environmental farm plans (EFP) to create a national plan. The plan would enable buyers of farm products from across the country to know that farmers in each region are following a consistent standard of environmental stewardship. The national EFP website describes the initiative as a harmonization effort. “It’s tough when the provinces are all doing something different,” notes Kantz adding that for farmers trying to meet the demands of multiple buyers, “You can’t hold enough certifications.” Hughes-Games said the one-day summit was open to farmers and farm organizations across Canada to ensure that everyone is on the same page.


“Back in around 2003, Canada talked about branding Canada and having a national environmental farm plan,” he explains. It didn’t


happen and provinces continued administering plans independent of one another. “In the last three years, there has been this move to see if some benchmark can be identified ... Various organizations are looking at different aspects of this.” While more than 25 organizations as well as the


provincial and territorial governments have come together to develop the national EFP, Hughes- Games says the primary backers are the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, Alberta Environmental Farm Plan and Canadian Federation of Agriculture. “The goal here is to try and at least have the EFP


program meet some recognized sustainability platform standards,” note Hughes-Games.


Concerns raised The first National EFP summit in 2016 presented


an analysis of how the provinces compare and a report was presented. Hughes-Games declined to make the report available to Country Life in BC, explaining that “there were concerns about what was being compared.” Since different provinces have different standards,


it’s challenging to establish a national benchmark. Some provinces have higher environmental standards due to provincial regulations that may not be noted in the provincial EFP. Other provinces may place a higher emphasis on water use. Inputs like these are hard to bring together in one national plan, but both Kantz and Hughes-Games see a benefit in pushing forward. “The idea is, instead of reinventing the wheel, let’s use what producers are already using,” Hughes- Games says. “And [where necessary] we’ll just add some verification to that. Rather than having a whole bunch of different programs … create one national program.”


While the national plan aims to provide a single


standard for farmers and purchasers, the process isn’t simple. EFP committees are studying four key areas, including verification, data collection, communication and sustainability platforms. Questions surround who will establish the benchmarks, what will they be measured against and how the benchmarks for each platform will be implemented. There are few answers at this stage and Hughes-


Games notes the summit primarily consisted of committees reporting on the four areas. “It was mostly an info dump,” he says. “But there


were questions and there was lots of discussion about some of the challenges. Ag Canada is on board with this… they are signaling that funds with CAAP [Canadian Agriculture Adaptation Program] can be allocated towards moving this forward.”


Work to do The summit’s 150 to 180 delegates were generally


in favour of the work done to date, however, and felt that it was moving in the right direction. The one thing Kantz says he heard is that summit organizers need to collect more producer input before the next summit. “It’s got a long way to go,” he says. “Everybody felt


they’re heading in the right direction but no next steps.” Kantz also found that those he interacted with felt as he did – that more details about how it will be paid for, what it will cost farmers, what verification will look like and overall details to create a national program are needed before anyone feels confident in fully endorsing the concept.


While the national EFP concept is still alive, there


is work to be done before producers are ready to embrace it.


s,” taking place


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