SR9086 - Analytical Profiles of the Livestock Industry in Ontario

Researcher:

Dr. John FitzGibbon, School of Rural Planning and Development, University of Guelph

Objectives:

To utilize existing data bases on agricultural enterprises to a) form analytical profiles of the livestock industry and b) to assess the impacts of environmental legislation, policy and regulation on livestock farming in Ontario.

Expected Benefits:

This research will produce a data base through which a whole series of policy and regulation questions can be addressed. The research provides to assess and discuss the potential impacts of changing standards and regulations on the livestock sector.

Summary of Research Results:

Analysis of regulatory and policy alternative based on secondary documents and interviews with key informants provided insights into the system of management agreements used in the EU as well as the system of incentives and regulatory process used in several states in the United states of America. It was concluded that regulations without the accompanied support of auditing, education, awareness and incentives was not particularly effective. In general there was a reluctance to use regulations based investigation and enforcement as the only tool of achieving compliance. The European method of self-regulation, through monitored management agreements was seen as the best alternative for achieving change in agricultural practices of manure management.

Analysis of the 1996 census of agriculture has shown that actual growth of numbers of livestock in Ontario is limited to hogs and poultry while beef and dairy numbers have declined significantly. The structure of the animal sector has changes considerably over the last 50 years from a diversified animal production system to one which is much more specialized and increasingly concentrated in larger production units.

The review of current practice revealed that practices of nutrient management were most likely to be followed on the larger farms where regulation and economic capacity to invest in environmental protection were the greatest. The poorest level of practice was found on the smallest (Lt 50 lu) and mid-sized farms (Lt 150 lu). Interviews with farm operators revealed that farmers were not proceeding with nutrient management currently until regulations for the small and mid-sized farms were known.

Information collected on the costs of compliance with regulation in Ontario was collected including data from 150 farms that had recently expanded or built barns under regulation, 30 construction companies, and 5 analytical laboratories. The extremely wide range of cost encountered made it impractical to provide general estimates of the cost of compliance with regulation.