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Fall
2017
grainswest.com13
BY SAM GREEN
COUNTINGONACCOUNTABILITY
NEWSUSTAINABILITY SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL AIMEDAT BOOSTING
THE BOTTOMLINE, PREPARINGFARMERS FOR THE FUTURE
AS SUSTAINABILITY CLIMBS TO
the top of the federal government’s agricul-
tural policy agenda, farmers may wonder
how they ensure their farms are well
positioned for the future. “Often, the first
thing that comes to mind when we hear the
word ‘sustainability’ is climate change and
the environment,” said Jolene Noble, ex-
tension co-ordinator for the Alberta Farm
Sustainability Extension (AFSE) working
group. “But sustainability is not only an
important part of agriculture because of
environmental leadership, but also because
of succession planning, business readiness
and future market access.”
Still, with many sustainability stand-
ards and practices in Canadian agricul-
ture, it can be difficult for farmers to
meet the myriad requirements. Enter the
AFSE sustainability information hub and
self-assessment platform being developed
collaboratively by Alberta Barley, Alberta
Canola, Alberta Pulse Growers and the
Alberta Wheat Commission. This online
tool will combine the sustainable practices
suggested by three sustainability stand-
ards—International Sustainability and
Carbon Certification (ISCC), the Sustain-
able Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI)
Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) and
Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture Code
(ULSAC)—into a user-friendly platform
that allows farmers to benchmark their lev-
el of sustainability, create and implement
an action plan and track their progress.
“This voluntary readiness tool will
give farmers a very good idea of what
would be asked in an audit,” said Noble.
“While the marketplace is not currently
demanding certification, there is a high
likelihood it will become a requirement.
Producer readiness is important and can
take a considerable amount of time, so it is
important that we start now.”
The online tool will increase readiness
by providing a library of best management
practices (BMPs) and guidelines for their
implementation, action plans, progress
reports and information about each prac-
tice’s impact on the farm’s bottom line. The
AFSE working group is also integrating this
tool with other services such as Environ-
mental Farm Plans to ensure a streamlined
process that avoids duplication.
The AFSE tool is modelled after Dairy
Farms +, an initiative launched by the
Dairy Farmers of Canada in 2016. Follow-
ing a life cycle analysis and a carbon foot-
print calculation for a typical unit of milk
done in 2012, the group, in partnership
with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
began developing a tool that would allow
dairy farmers to assess their readiness to
sustainably address socio-economic and
environmental issues.
This tool helps farmers make changes
that build consumer trust and address
future market access issues. “There are
currently 110 BMPs included in the tool,
addressing issues such as farm labour, im-
pact on the community, animal husbandry
and environmental footprints,” said Shelley
Crabtree, Dairy Research Cluster commu-
nications specialist. “The tool also shows
producers how costly a practice would be
to implement, as well as the impact it will
have on energy use and other inputs.”
The topic of sustainability is cropping
up across the agricultural sector. “The
change in government policy that we have
seen recently reflects the importance of
on-farm sustainability and the changing
marketplace,” said Noble. “The AFSE tool
is responding to these same trends.”
And it’s not just the government talking
about on-farm sustainability. “There is a
trend in agriculture toward providing a
high level of assurance and trust in the
products that are being sold to consum-
ers, especially in Canada,” said Crabtree.
“These online tools help farmers ensure a
high level of accountability in these areas.”
The AFSE tool will be available online
in the first quarter of 2018.
Modelled after Dairy Farms +, the AFSE tool was created to respond to changes in sustainability policy.
Photo:Michael Interisano