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

Smith, P. L.

doi:10.5539/jgg.v7n2p32

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The observed increase in percent implementation of EFPs from 55.0% in 1999 to 67.5% in 2010 is not surprising given the surge in available funding during the Agricultural Policy Framework after 2003 (Smith, 2015;Robinson, 2006a, b) and the maturing of the EFP program (Morrison and Fitzgibbon, 2014). Statistics Canada (2013) reported that in 2011 38% of farmers reported full implementation and 56% reported partial implementation in Ontario in response to a qualitative survey question.…”

Section: Implementation Of Efpsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This is higher than the 55.0% in 1999 and the difference is statistically significant (Mann Whitney Test, P< 0.0001). Cost sharing programs were much more readily available in 2010 than in 1999, the EFP program has gained wide acceptance and social context had changed over time (Smith 2015;Morrison and Fitzgibbon 2014). The level of implementation of actions by topic or worksheet in both 1999 and 2010 is shown in Table 1 as well as the time and funding devoted to each topic.…”

Section: Level Of Implementation Of Action Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Canada's Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Program is a long-term partnership between farm organizations and the Canadian federal and Ontario and other provincial governments based on a voluntary, self-administered educational and risk assessment approach (Ontario Farm Environment Coalition, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada & Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, 2013;Summers, Plummer, & FitzGibbon, 2008;Plummer, Speirs, A., Summers, R. & FitzGibbon, 2007;Robinson, 2006a, b). The EFP began as a proposal from farm organizations in 1992 (Ontario Farm Ontario Farm Environment Coalition, 1992) and was developed through a consensus-based process supported by the Canadian and Ontario governments (Smith, 2015;Robinson, 2006a, b). EFP has evolved over time (Morrison and FitzGibbon, 2014), spreading across Canada and continues today under the 2018-2023 Canadian Agricultural Partnership framework (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…EFP has evolved over time (Morrison and FitzGibbon, 2014), spreading across Canada and continues today under the 2018-2023 Canadian Agricultural Partnership framework (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, 2018). The EFP Program is a primary vehicle for agri-environmental stewardship in Canada, enjoys high levels of participation and acceptance (Smith, 2015) and wide adoption across Canada (Statistics Canada, 2013, 2019Clearwater, Martin, & Hoppe, 2016;Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agri-environmental policy across the nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and elsewhere struggles with evaluation and performance measurement (Ansell, Gibson, & Salt, 2016;OECD, 2010OECD, , 2013Manderson, Mackay, & Palmer, 2007). Tracking increasing farmer participation in the EFP was for a long time a measure of effectiveness and performance (Smith, 2015, AAFC, 2009, Robinson, 2006a. Participation in EFP was 38% of farms in Ontario and 35% across Canada in 2011, now 46% and 40% respectively in 2016 based on sample surveys (Statistics Canada, 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

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

Smith¹,

Bibik²,

Lazarus³

et al. 2020

SAR

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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.

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Section: Implementation Of Efpsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Level Of Implementation Of Action Plansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

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

Smith¹,

Bibik²,

Lazarus³

et al. 2020

SAR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Agricultural intensification and urban expansion affect the seasonal flow regime in southern Ontario watersheds

Lockett,

Buttle,

Leach

et al. 2024

Hydrological Processes

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The mosaic of urban, agricultural and natural covers that typifies most developed landscapes makes it challenging to identify the primary causes of stream flow perturbation in mixed landcover watersheds. This is especially true in southern Ontario, Canada, where approximately 1/3 of the Canadian population lives in urban areas surrounded by agriculture. Whilst previous studies have examined the impacts of urban or agricultural landcover on stream flow separately, they are rarely considered together. Furthermore, major expansions in tile‐drained (TD) cropland in Ontario over the past several decades could affect the flow regime; however, this has never been examined. This study assessed the effect of landcover on flow regime at 19 proximal watersheds that varied in agriculture (0%–87%), natural (2%–97%) and urban landcover (2%–96%) using the Richards–Baker index (RBI), the coefficient of variation (CV) and a Baseflow index (BFI). Urbanized watersheds were consistently the most flashy (highest RBI and CV), regardless of season, whereas agricultural watersheds had moderately flashy conditions that varied between the growing (GS) and non‐growing seasons (NGS). Natural watersheds were the least flashy and had the highest BFI. Watersheds dominated by TD cropland were flashier during the NGS compared with un‐tiled agricultural watersheds. Furthermore, TD‐streams were warmer in the NGS and cooler in the GS, such that the former could affect ice breakup. A 50‐year analysis at three watersheds showed statistically significant increases in flashiness and decreases in BFI at an urbanizing watershed. In contrast, watersheds that remained agricultural or natural underwent small but significant declines in flashiness and increases in baseflow, potentially due to increases in precipitation and forest maturation. Our results suggest that continued expansions of urban and TD cropland may increase NGS flashiness. In contrast, enhanced soil moisture storage provided by TD could decrease the potential for flooding in the GS in southern Ontario.

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Future land-use change predictions using Dyna-Clue to support mosquito-borne disease risk assessment

Rakotoarinia

Seidou

Lapen

et al. 2023

Environ Monit Assess

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Mosquitoes are known vectors for viral diseases in Canada, and their distribution is driven by climate and land use. Despite that, future land-use changes have not yet been used as a driver in mosquito distribution models in North America. In this paper, we developed land-use change projections designed to address mosquito-borne disease (MBD) prediction in a 38 761 km2 area of Eastern Ontario. The landscape in the study area is marked by urbanization and intensive agriculture and hosts a diverse mosquito community. The Dyna-CLUE model was used to project land-use for three time horizons (2030, 2050, and 2070) based on historical trends (from 2014 to 2020) for water, forest, agriculture, and urban land uses. Five scenarios were generated to reflect urbanization, agricultural expansion, and natural areas. An ensemble of thirty simulations per scenario was run to account for land-use conversion uncertainty. The simulation closest to the average map generated was selected to represent the scenario. A concordance matrix generated using map pair analysis showed a good agreement between the simulated 2020 maps and 2020 observed map. By 2050, the most significant changes are predicted to occur mainly in the southeastern region’s rural and forested areas. By 2070, high deforestation is expected in the central west. These results will be integrated into risk models predicting mosquito distribution to study the possibility of humans’ increased exposure risk to MBDs.

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

Cited by 18 publications

References 65 publications

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

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

Agricultural intensification and urban expansion affect the seasonal flow regime in southern Ontario watersheds

Future land-use change predictions using Dyna-Clue to support mosquito-borne disease risk assessment

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