Researcher surprised by abrupt end to Sask. Environmental Farm Plan

University of Saskatchewan Prof. Ryan Brook was updating his lecture about the Saskatchewan Environmental Farm Plan when he visited its webpage — only to find a small blurb saying it had been decommissioned.

The federal-provincial program helps farmers identify and assess environmental risks, and completing it can make producers eligible for certain funding programs. Programming started in Ontario in 1993, and a national program was developed in the early 2000s.

Every province in Canada was taking part until Saskatchewan stopped in December. All other provinces still use the program.

"I live in Saskatchewan and so, you know, anything these days with the word 'environment' in it is going to have a target painted on it. So I guess I can't say that I'm entirely surprised," Brook said. "But that was certainly my first reaction, 'Oh my goodness, we've lost another good program.'"

Independent reviews of the program have found farmers liked it because it is voluntary and confidential, and it provided expert support, Brook said.

According to Statistics Canada data, 37 per cent of farms in Canada have developed an environmental farm plan. 

Brook said once a plan is approved, farmers could get up to $25,000 toward addressing issues they identified, such as relocating manure storage, adding fencing to prevent crop damage from wildlife, planting shelter belts and improving runoff control.

"What we heard loud and clear from producers was that this was just, it ticked every box … and really gave this sort of a buffet of options that you could choose from, because of course every single farm is different and every farm has different issues and priorities," Brook said.

The provincial government did not make any public announcements about decommissioning the program.

In an emailed statement to CBC, the provincial agriculture ministry said that in December, it transitioned the Environmental Farm Plan to the Saskatchewan Agri-Environmental Risk Assessment, which "better meets the needs of producers and is more aligned with industry and evolving production practices."

A note posted to the top of the program's webpage says all information in the Environmental Farm Plan portal has been archived, and gives a phone number and email address for producers to contact regarding their archived documents.

"I guess the big question right now is, really, waiting to see what the details are going to look like," Brook said. "The website announced the closure and then has a whole bunch of links to various existing programs, but there's nothing that talks about workshops or training or financial support or a sort of indication of what this is going to look like."