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

Abstract

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.

Long-Term Temporal Trends in Agri-Environment and Agricultural Land Use in Ontario, Canada: Transformation, Transition and Significance

“…Environmental stewardship in agriculture has a long history in Ontario (Summers et al, 2008) and Canada, which parallels similar work in the United States and Europe. In the 1990s, farm organizations developed the Ontario Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) to address environmental concerns in agriculture, in cooperation with government (Ontario Farm Environment Coalition 1993;Plummer et al, 2007;Ferreyra et al, 2008;Summers et al, 2008;Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2009). The Environmental Farm Plan is both a risk assessment tool and an educational process that helps farmers identify best environmental practices.…”

“…Since 2005, statistics have been kept on best management practice projects completed. Several evaluations of the EFP are drawn on for context (Plummer et al, 2007;Summers et al, 2008;Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2009;Prairie Research Associates, 2011;Woyzbun, 2012).…”

“…A 1999 sample survey of participating farmers found 54% completion of actions identified in their EFPs (Summers et al, 2008;Plummer et al, 2007). In a follow up 2010 sample survey, 65% of actions identified in EFPs were implemented (Prairie Research Associates, 2011).…”

“…Progress in agri-environmental stewardship is evident in most developed countries including Canada (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2008[OECD], , 2013. Ontario's agri-environmental stewardship initiatives in recent decades address soil erosion, water quality, nutrient management, pesticide use and greenhouse gas emissions (Ontario Farm Environment Coalition [OFEC], 1993;Plummer, Speirs, Summer, & FitzGibbon, 2007;Summers, Plummer, & FitzGibbon, 2008;Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2009). Sustainability and environmental performance is now becoming a factor in securing and retaining market access.…”

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

“…While the program has been the subject of a number of studies (e.g., Klupfel 2000;Grudens-Schuck 2000;Smithers and Furman 2003;Robinson 2006aRobinson , 2006bKnierim 2007;Plummer et al 2007;Summers et al 2008), this is the first article to focus on the dynamic nature of the program, and its evolution over time.…”