Eilers, Warren - Soil and Water Conservation Society

Canada’s National Program to Assess
Environmental Performance of Agriculture:
National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and
Reporting Program
Warren Eilers, AEI Science Co-ordinator NAHARP

Content…
• General introduction: importance of indicators for policy
• The NAHARP Program
Agri-Environmental Indicators
Integrated Environmental / Economic Modelling
Agri-Environmental Valuation
• Concluding remarks

Environmental Sustainability in Agriculture
• Requires production and processing of food and fibre in ways that
protect or enhance the natural resources supporting agricultural
production and that are compatible with surrounding natural systems
and processes

Achieving environmental sustainability in agriculture
has become more complex than ever…
• Environmental issues are not new to agriculture, but public scrutiny
of environmental costs of agricultural production has been
increasing:
Water quality issues, pesticide run-offs, fish kills
Restrictions on intensive livestock operations
Increased consumer awareness of environmental standards of food production
• Environmentally sustainable production is increasingly an issue at
an international level.
key to demonstrate Canada is meeting emerging international standards to
ensure continued market access.
• Agriculture is also vulnerable to environmental problems
Water shortages
Invasive species

The role of government: Canada’s agriculture
department’s environmental policy…
• In Canada, much of the regulatory and decision powers on the
environment rest with the provinces
• The role of the national government is to work with industry and
provinces to help producers improve the environmental
stewardship and sustainability of their sector
• The mandate of Agriculture Canada towards environmental
sustainability of agriculture is therefore achieved through:
Science and Innovation
Programs that encourage on-farm action
Measuring performance and reporting results

Information is needed to answer questions of
environmental sustainability in agriculture
• Objective and reliable information
Often facing conflicting interests
Cannot rely on information from interested parties
• Historic approaches have focused on economic information, and
largely ignored environmental impacts
Risk achieving economic goals at the expense of environmental objectives
• Work is underway to develop and refine agri-environmental
information and tools to integrate this information in decisionmaking
The National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and Reporting Program

The National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and
Reporting Program (NAHARP)…
• Objectives:
To assess and report on the “end outcome” environmental performance of the
agriculture sector in Canada, using science-based indicators
To develop tools to integrate these indicators into policy development
Actively contribute to international efforts (e.g. OECD) on the development of
agri-environmental indicators

The National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and
Reporting Program (NAHARP)…
• Three components:
Agri-Environmental Indicators: historical perspective on the agriculture sector’s
environmental performance
Integrated Economic/Environmental Modeling: evaluate existing policies and
programs relative to their combined economic and environmental performance,
as well as to estimate or predict the economic and environmental impacts of
proposed programs and policies
Agri-Environmental Valuation: measure and compare benefits and costs of agrienvironmental
performance – in dollars. Attaching a dollar value to bio-physical
impacts can help in policy analysis and reporting.

AEIs: Identification of issues to address…
Existing
In development
Soil Quality erosion
soil organic carbon
contamination by trace elements
salinization
Water Quality nitrogen pesticides pathogens
phosphorous (Qc) phosphorous (RoC)
Air Quality GHG ammonia and particulate matter
Odour
Biodiversity wildlife habitat wildlife damage
soils biodiversity
Invasive Alien Species
Farm Management nitrogen use efficiency IPM adoption
soil cover
Water use efficiency - irrigation
energy use efficiency
Food and Beverage
Industry
GHG/Energy
Water Use and Effluents
Organic , wastes)

General approach for AEIs: Concept…
INPUTS
• Technology
• Water
• Energy
•Nutrients
• Pesticides
• Land
Quality & Quantity of
Natural Resources
Water
Air
Soil
Biodiversity
OUTPUTS
• Crops & Livestock
• Manure
• Waste (pollution)
- sediments
- nutrient surplus
- atmospheric
emissions
WHOLE FARM ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

General approach for AEIs: Types of indicators…
• Risk Indicators: estimate the likelihood of a potential environmental
impact from farming activities
• State Indicators: estimate the presence and degree of an impact or
environmental service
• Eco-efficiency Indicators: estimate of resource use efficiency

AEIs: Typical Data Sources…
• AEI make as much use as possible of existing data sources
• Data sources typically match the AEI reporting scale (regional
provincial, national)
Soil Information - Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC) (1:1million)
Land management and landuse practices - Census of Agriculture
information reprocessed to SLC polygons (1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001)
Farm Environmental Management Survey
Climate EC 30 yr normal values attached to Ecodistricts
Other data sources as may be suitable to specific indicators or groups of
indicators

AEIs Calculation…
• Most indicators are calculated via scientifically based models
Integrate biophysical information with land use and management information
Models are run at the SLC level and then aggregated up for reporting
• Benefits
Assessments at broad spatial scales
Eliminates time lag between change in land use/management and measurable
impact
Compatible with predictive policy modeling analysis
Data acquisition costs are realistic
• Use of Geographic Information System (GIS):
framework for calculating and reporting indicators
allows integration with other information
improve delivery of information (maps)

AEI Calculations: National Ecological Framework…
Ecoregion
Ecozone
Provincial / National
AEI Reporting
Ecodistrict
Soil Landscape
of Canada
AEI Calculations

AEIs: Interpreting Results…
Classes
Meaning
Possible Implication
1 - Very low
risk
2 - Low risk
3 – Moderate
Risk
4 - High risk
5 - Very high
risk
In general this level of risk is negligible.
Agri-environmental health likely to be
maintained or enhanced over time.
In many cases this level of risk may be
acceptable.
Agri-environmental health at low risk of
being significantly degraded.
Awareness of the situation is important.
Agri-environmental health is at moderate
risk of being significantly degraded.
Heightened concern is warranted.
Agri-environmental health at high risk of
being significantly degraded.
Immediate attention is required. Under
current conditions, agri-environmental
health is at very high risk of being
significantly degraded.
Detailed analysis is warranted to understand the
factors that contributed to this rating. Potential may
exist to export policy and program approaches to
areas of higher risk.
Continued adoption of BMPs may improve situation
in some areas. Specific (policy or program) actions
not necessarily warranted.
The trend (+ or -) needs to be assessed. Attention
should be directed locally to promote adoption of
BMPs in order to better match the limitations of the
biophysical resource and reduce this risk.
A local assessment is probably warranted.
Additional efforts and targeted actions are likely
needed locally to better match management practices
to the limitations of the biophysical resources.
A thorough local assessment is warranted. Concrete
and targeted actions are likely needed locally to
better match management practices to the limitations
of the biophysical resources. It may be necessary to
consider alternate land uses to reduce the risk.

The National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and
Reporting Program (NAHARP)…
• Three components:
Agri-Environmental Indicators: historical perspective on the agriculture sector’s
environmental performance
Integrated Economic/Environmental Modeling: evaluate existing policies and
programs relative to their combined economic and environmental performance,
as well as to estimate or predict the economic and environmental impacts of
proposed programs and policies
Agri-Environmental Valuation: measure and compare benefits and costs of agrienvironmental
performance – in dollars. Attaching a dollar value to bio-physical
impacts can help in policy analysis and reporting.

Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling…
• Multidisciplinary approach
Bring quantitative, science-based information into the policy debate
Enable forward looking analysis to evaluate policy options and scenarios
• Integrate economic model with environmental models
Policy Model : CRAM (Canadian Regional Agricultural Model)
Biophysical Models : Agri-Environmental Indicators
• Assess various farm management scenarios relative to a
Business as Usual (BAU) baseline
• Generate information on
Land use change for major activities
Area of major crops
Summerfallow and tillage practices
Livestock numbers
Economic impact on both producers and consumers

The National Agri-Environmental Health Analysis and
Reporting Program (NAHARP)…
• Three components:
Agri-Environmental Indicators: historical perspective on the agriculture sector’s
environmental performance
Integrated Economic/Environmental Modeling: evaluate existing policies and
programs relative to their combined economic and environmental performance,
as well as to estimate or predict the economic and environmental impacts of
proposed programs and policies
Agri-Environmental Valuation: measure and compare benefits and costs of agrienvironmental
performance – in dollars. Attaching a dollar value to bio-physical
impacts can help in policy analysis and reporting.

Agri-Environmental Valuation…
• Why do monetary valuation?
First motivation is to inform decision makers re. Implications of their actions on
the environmental goods and services
Politicians and many policy makers pay attention to things that are quantified
and/or presented in monetary values (for the sake of bringing comparability)
Help select better policies based on a more comprehensive analysis (including
benefits to society and / or damages done to natural ecosystems)

Concluding remarks: limitations to this work…
• Incomplete and still evolving scientific knowledge of the interaction of
agriculture with the environment
• Uncertainty regarding the precision or accuracy of indicator model estimates
Limitations concerning the scope of agricultural practices captured by
indicator models (reliability is unknown, uncertainty not quantified)
• Data availability poses constraints in modeling
Scaling Issues – Indicators based on models validated at field scale; scaling
to National, Provincial and Regional levels subject to some uncertainty
• Inconsistency between the spatial basis of indicator models and economic
models, which currently precludes setting environmental targets at subprovincial
levels.

Concluding remarks: lessons learned…
• Agri-Environmental Indicators can…
facilitate the inclusion of measurable environmental goals and targets in policies
provide a means of evaluating policies effectiveness and to report on progress
help target policy implementation at areas and environmental issues most in need
of attention
• Integrated economic-environmental analysis can…
help estimate alternative policy outcomes and levels of effort needed to achieve
these
provide information for setting meaningful and achievable targets
• Important aspects to consider for these types of purposes…
indicators must be amenable to modeling
indicators and modeling systems must be based on sound science, adequate and
valid data, to be accepted by stakeholders
a long-term institutional commitment to the use of indicators and their ongoing
improvement is highly desirable

For more information…
• Agri-Environmental Indicator Report (2005)
www.agr.gc.ca/env/naharp-pnarsa
• Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Agricultural
Management Strategies on Environmental Indicators
http://www.agr.gc.ca/spb/rad-dra/publications/isie/ise_e.pdf

Thank You !