Seeking Examples of Self-Assessment Tools for Use in Agriculture

Dear Helen,

a very interesting article that refers in particular to innovations in agriculture is: Guerin, Turlough F. "Why sustainable innovations are not always adopted". Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 2001 Dec; 34(1): pp.1-18.

regards,
Silvana

Silvana Khtz
lecturer of Management and Economy of Energy Sources
Ph.D., D.I.C., Dr
Ing. DIFA Faculty of Engineering,
University of Basilicata 85100 Potenza Italy
tel. + 39 349 527 97 55

Good evening all,

I don't know much about it, but in Ontario, Canada, the provincial government encourages farmers to submit their "Environmental Farm Plan". There are associated $$ incentives to complete projects that make an improvement to any impacts of their operations. eg fencing cattle out of streams; manure management

Regards,
Patricia

The Ontario Farm Plan program is a decendent of a US program called Farm*A*Syst, which was developed as a partnership between Wisconsin and Minnesota Cooperative Extension Services in the early 1990s.  This program, a jointly federally funded project, spawned parallel efforts across most states in the public sector as well as in the private sector with the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Growers in California and the Australian Cotton Industry.  The main focus of the program is to provide self-assessment tools along with general recommendations that are understandable to the general public.  These tools are now providing a first step for more advanced work in various projects.  You can find a collection of materials in a library at the Farm*A*Syst website, as well as a related website, both of which are listed below. I have been with the Farm*A*Syst and related Home*A*Syst program since 1995.  I'd be happy to provide you with further examples/information about self-assessment tools for farmers and homeowners.  My contact information is below. Farm*A*Syst website: http://www.uwex.edu/farmasyst Click on the Search button. Pollution Assessment and Prevention website: http://www.uwex.edu/farmandhome/wqpaap

Janice Kepka

UW-Madison Environmental Resources Center
Farm and Home Environmental Management Programs
Room 303 Hiram Smith Hall
1545 Observatory Drive Madison, WI  53706
608/263-4695

Hi

The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan, http://www.albertaefp.com/. Finding articles on it's effectivenss would be harder to come by due to confidentiality issue. But the website would be a great place to start. The farm plan is very comprehensive at evaluating farm risk, and helps producers create an action plant.

Kaley

Kaley Segboer
Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator
Leduc County / Wetaskiwin County
Canada