Alberta farmers have beaten their province’s target for completing Environmental Farm Plans (EFPs).
The federal and provincial governments reported Friday that over 7,000 Alberta farmers had completed EFPs. That’s above a provincial target of 6,500 for 2007-08, as noted in the provincial agriculture department’s business plan in March this year.
According to that plan, the province’s targets are for 8,000 farmers to have had training and technical support to develop their EFPs by the end of the 2008-09 season, and 9,500 by 2009-10.
EFP support and development in Alberta is delivered through the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Co., an arm’s-length non-profit group created in 2002 including industry, government and other stakeholders. The funding for EFP development and implementation comes from the federal-provincial Agricultural Policy Framework, which expires at the end of March 2008.
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“With the continued help of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Co., we will be able to sustain and expand our capacity in the transition from the first Agricultural Policy Framework,” said provincial assistant deputy ag minister John Donner in a release.
EFPs are billed as voluntary, confidential self-assessment tools for farmers to “raise awareness about environmental opportunities and risks” on their farms. Farmers develop their own plans, with the help of a facilitator and peer review committee, for management practices that will reduce environmental risk on the farm.
A completed EFP is also a requirement for any farmer who wants to apply for cost-shared funding and/or technical assistance to introduce new environmental best management practices (BMPs) on his or her farm. Examples of eligible BMPs include improved manure storage and handling, erosion control structures and improved cropping systems.
Saskatchewan made a similar announcement in September, that 9,000 farms had completed EFPs ahead of its March 2008 goal of 6,500. That province expects EFP uptake closer to 10,000 farms by March 31.
