The Sustainable Farm Coalition is using the 25 year old Environmental Farm Plan as a basis for it's whole farm sustainability program.
The coalition includes at least two people who were involved in the EFP's creation - Doctor Gord Surgeoner and Harold Rudy.
Rudy says while there are a lot of sustainability programs already in place and being worked on, they all appear to have different requirements and approaches.
He argues that creates duplication, mixed messages and a lot of paperwork for farmers - especially if they have to deal with multiple programs.
According to Rudy, the coalition wants to come up with a program that allows farmers to fill out a relatively simple package of information which can then be used in whatever sustainability program their commodity or end-user may want to develop at their end.
"There's nothing wrong with having a retail name or marquee or brand, but when it comes down to the verification and the traceability, we're really dealing with very common components around the world."
"Ideally, the activities on the farm would be traced real time, recorded real time and, when verification is required, then the records are all there - which actually can reduce the burden at the farm level considerably."
Rudy says that would reduce the burden on the farmer and create the kind of basic framework that would fit most agricultural sustainability programs.
===
Harold Rudy says while there are a lot of sustainability plans around the world, they're not all the same.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RUDY-Sust-1.mp3"][/audio]
===
Rudy says they're aiming for a common framework other parts of the industry can build on.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RUDY-Sust-2.mp3"][/audio]
===
Rudy says the coalition wants to simplify sustainability at the farm level.
[audio mp3="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RUDY-Sust-3.mp3"][/audio]
