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It’s mandatory for Bonnie and Jim Hart of Tofield, Alberta, to have an environmental and safety plan for their construction company and they think it’s only right the farm part of their business be subject to the same scrutiny.
“Why shouldn’t farmers follow the same rules as we do for construction safety,” said Bonnie after a five-hour workshop where the pair learned how to begin an environmental plan on their farm.
This winter, the Tofield couple will work their way through the five-centimeter-thick binder and assess all parts of their farm from water and manure management, to fertilizer use and how they deal with the household septic waste.
It was during the introductory session that they became aware of the possible dangers of water contamination to the bored well near their house and the dangers in old water wells on abandoned farm sites across the Prairies.
“It’s a lot more risky out there than I was aware of,” Hart said.
Since the program’s introduction in 2002, more than 1,900 people have attended 375 environmental farm plan workshops in Alberta and learned how to do a safety check on their farm. About 500 people have developed an official farm plan and anonymously subjected it to a peer review.
“It’s just you taking a snapshot of your farm from an environmental point of view,” facilitator and farmer Don Gregorwich told the group.
By the end of the workshop, Gregorwich said few farmers would be able to see their farm the same way again.
“I guarantee it will make you aware of what you do and how it affects the environment, good and bad,” he told the group.
When the farmers sit down to go through the workbook and design a plan, they rate their farm practices from one to four on different subjects. For example, disposal of old farm tires at a recycling depot or reusing them is considered a one, or the lowest risk. Dumping them or burning them on the farm is considered a four, or the highest risk.
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While some of the changes may be as easy as taking that pile of old batteries to a collection site, others, like changing to low or minimum tillage to reduce soil erosion, may take longer, he said.
“At your own speed, you will start to make changes you’ve identified.”
Ron Hamilton, an organic farmer from Armena, said that by taking the course and making a plan, he will show his customers he’s looking after the environment on his farm.
“It’s all part of doing business,” said Hamilton, who has taken on-farm food safety courses, has a Canadian Food Inspection Agency registered feed mill and has had his farm organically inspected.
“If a person is selling directly to the public, the public wants to know you’re looking after your animals and the environment.”
Cliff and Bev Drever of Camrose, part of a group of farmers that wants to begin selling its own beef direct to consumers, made a decision that each member of their group must have an environmental farm plan and have taken an on-farm food safety course.
Farmers also need a certificate from the course if they want to access the $30,000 each can draw on from the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program to help improve the environmental health of their farm.
Dave Trautman, County of Camrose assistant agricultural fieldman, said the workshop allows farmers to take control and responsibility for their own farm plan and not have changes dictated by a government agency.
Gregorwich said the main goal of the environmental farm plan program is to raise awareness.
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