Ontario Canada Agricultural Policy Framework
Environment

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Funding: Canada - $67.66 million; Ontario - $42.72 million

Environmental stewardship is key to the agriculture and agri-food industry's long-term vitality and profitability. An increase in public concern about the environment and agriculture's role in stewardship has prompted buyers of agricultural products to begin requiring evidence of responsible production practices.

Environmental Farm Plans (EFPs) have been part of Ontario's agricultural landscape for more than 10 years. Nutrient management legislation is taking farmers' best management practices and making them mandatory across the province.

The implementation agreement includes using EFPs as a key strategy for improving farm environmental management, and reducing environmental risks from agricultural nutrients by implementing nutrient management regulations and other measures on farms.

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Environmental Farm Planning

Governments will work with the sector toward having all farmers complete a basic environmental scan of their farms. These scans would assess environmental risks and benefits on agricultural operations. In Ontario, the goal is to scan all agricultural land with a combination of individual on farm scans and some broader regional/provincial scanning to determine areas of highest risk. Where environmental risks are identified, every effort will be made to encourage farmers to complete an environmental farm plan and develop a plan of action to address the highest risks. Ontario will work toward a target of 75 per cent of farms implementing some priority actions to reduce the risks that have been identified

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Stewardship Tools

As part of the commitments under the APF implementation agreement, and to support the new regulations, Ontario has put forward as its cost shared component the following:

• To encourage broad uptake of nutrient management plans, including better matching of nutrients to crop requirements, better manure storage, improved land application to reduce the risk of water contamination, the province will invest $6 million;
  
  
• To encourage farmers to implement best management practices to safeguard water quality and quantity in rural Ontario, the province will invest $12 million under the Healthy Futures for Ontario Agriculture program.
  
  
• To support courses designed for certifying growers and vendors in the safe use and management of pesticides, the province will invest $400,000.
  
  
• To support research in the three critical areas of soil quality and land conservation; water quality and conservation; and climate and air quality the province will invest $14 million in the University of Guelph. The university will administer this funding.
  
  
• To produce best management booklets on issues such as water and soil management the province will invest $4.55 million on education and technology transfer. These funds will be administered by OMAF.
  
  
• For map compilation, data collection and analysis related to environmental initiatives the province will invest $5 million.

For more information:

Scott Duff
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
(519) 826-3559
scott.duff@ontario.ca

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