The objective of EFPs is to help producers develop a practical plan for operating their farm in a way that is environmentally sustainable, socially acceptable, and economically viable. The EFP process was initiated by the Ontario farm community in the early 1990s. New Brunswick farmers have been participating in environmental farm planning since 1996. The program has been adopted across Canada and is now funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial agreement on agriculture and agri-food policy. The Agricultural Alliance of NB is responsible for delivering the program in New Brunswick.

Anyone involved in agricultural operations is encouraged to complete an EFP. An EFP can benefit operations of any size or commodity. These include but not limited to: dairy, beef, sheep, poultry and other livestock farms and feedlots; egg, potato, grain, fruit, vegetable and Christmas tree production; nurseries and greenhouse operations; apiaries and maple sugaries.

There are many reasons to have an EFP:

FOR YOUR FAMILY AND WORKERS:

Ensure their health and safety by identifying and addressing environmental risks on the farm.

FOR YOUR BUSINESS:

Prepare for the future viability of your business.

A growing number of your customers want to know that their food is being produced in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Reducing environmental risks can reduce the costs of production, increasing your farm’s productivity.

It costs less to prevent environmental problems than to correct them.

With an Environmental Farm Plan, you eligible for federal and provincial funding and technical assistance to help you address risks and/or increase benefits from the environment.

FOR YOUR INDUSTRY

Show the public that environment matters in agriculture and that you are actively involved in adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

No, funding is provided to us by the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to serve all producers.

Your EFP belongs to you and you will decide who, if anyone, sees it. Developing an EFP is a voluntary, confidential process and several measures are in place to ensure that your plan remains private.

Trained coordinators, employed by the Agricultural Alliance of NB, facilitate workshops and individual sessions to provide assistance to help you complete your plan. They do not keep copies of finished plans.

You are encouraged to have a third-party review of your plan. This step is optional, but necessary to obtain a certificate. To qualify for financial assistance, you must have a certificate and the actions to be implemented must be identified in your plan. In New Brunswick, third party reviews are carried out by the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick INNOV division (CCNB-INNOV).

The coordinator can forward the plan to CCNB-INNOV for you. Once a technical review is completed by a professional agrologist and validated, the EFP is returned to you with a certificate and action plan summary report. In some cases, the plan may be returned with a letter requesting more information.

This stage of the process usually takes about two weeks.

If you apply for financial assistance under the Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture (ESA) component of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the government administrator asks CCNB-INNOV’s EFP coordinator to confirm that you have a valid action plan and that the project is part of that plan. This is the only instance where individual information is provided to government representatives.

When your plan is received at CCNB-INNOV, the information is entered into a database and a client number is assigned to the file. Only two people have access to the password protected database. Copies of your farm information sheet, EFP certificate and action plan are filed only by client number.

CCNB-INNOV may compile anonymous aggregate information to assist agro-environmental program evaluation and development.

No. Your EFP is confidential. The EFP process does not affect whether an operation is complying with regulations. However, in completing the risk assessment, you may become aware of regulations and that may potential impact your operation and may decide to take action. A completed EFP may constitute some measure of “due diligence”, showing that you have assessed your management practices and have identified areas where improvement may be needed.

The action plan should be reviewed yearly to see what actions you had planned. Any new actions that you decide upon can be added to your action plan (and sent to CCNB if planning to apply for funding). Every five years, you should completely update your evaluation and actions.

Yes, if you received the workbook after February 1, 2005, it is the “2004 Edition”. This is the version still being used. However, if your plan was completed more than five years ago, it should be updated