Having an off-farm job in sales has given John Wozniak a crash course in time and resource management.
Ask most producers who have not developed an Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) why they haven't, and they will most likely say "time" and "money."
Although the EFP process itself is free and designed to take as little time as possible, it can still cost farmers in terms of time and opportunity to make the changes identified in their plans. The easy answer is better time and resource management — the much harder question is how to do just that.
John Wozniak knows a few things about managing time and resources. Like many producers, Wozniak has spent much of his farming career juggling the daily demands of farm management with an off-site job. However, his experience as an agronomist and seller of crop inputs has given the St. Paul, Alberta producer a well-rounded view of the industry and a local reputation as someone to go to for technical advice — all of which adds value to his position as a facilitator for the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company (AEFP).
For Wozniak, time and resource management is a matter of discipline and patience. "No one's expecting you to make huge changes overnight. But if you're willing to learn, take things a few steps at a time, keep records to track progress, and ask for help when you need it, you can make some good progress over the long run."
Wozniak often uses his father's farming practices as examples of how farming has changed over the past several decades. He does this not to criticize the practices of a different era, but to highlight the importance of being willing to adapt, change and keep an open mind towards new ideas.
Sometimes producers go through several small changes in practice over the years that, taken individually, go almost unnoticed, but taken as a whole add up to a major overhaul. "Think about the way most farmers used to deal with things like used filters. I know that when I was growing up a lot of them went into burning barrels or were thrown in a landfill. Now recycling is a common practice.
"A lot of times people look at change in the most negative manner. What they don't realize is that change doesn't have to be dramatic — it can be quite simple. Part of the reason I wanted to be an EFP facilitator is to communicate that to producers, because some of these new practices and solutions are not as big a deal as people may think."
Prioritizing is key to taking action on environmental risks, says Wozniak. "Again, everything does not have to be done overnight. Make a list of priorities, tackle one or two at a time, and budget for future projects.
"It's like scheduling appointments — it's really hard to fit 10 appointments into a single day. You have to decide what's most important to do today and go from there. Once you do, you'll likely find that some projects do not take as much money as others."
A family working towards the same goals can help share the burden, says Wozniak. "Consultants can be a lot of help as well. It may be an added cost, but it can save a lot of time in the long run."
Record keeping is crucial to good management, says Wozniak. Not only is it a way to track progress and efficiency as environmental improvements are made on the farm, but it can also prove that those efforts are being made.
"Take a basic soil test, for instance. Record keeping can help producers understand their returns relative to the organic material in the soil. I've found that once you do that for three or four years, you can see some definite trends emerging."
Keeping records is considered a Beneficial Management Practice (BMP) under the EFP program. "EFP helps farmers to become engaged in regular record keeping. It's a good start."
Finally, Wozniak stresses the importance of asking for help when it's needed. In the context of the EFP program, there are a number of resources available. Facilitators provide input into the development of the EFP, while technical assistants throughout the province are on hand to help producers implement the action items in their farm plans.
"Sometimes we have to face up to the fact that we can't handle everything ourselves," says Wozniak. "It sometimes requires an attitude change in order to be willing to ask for help when we need it."
This reluctance to seek help is not based exclusively on independence, however. "Producers in general really value their privacy," he says. "My dad was a very private man who thought that the less others knew about his farm operation, the better.
"The problem with that attitude is that, today, the world needs producers' input. The better the information we can provide to organizations, government, or anyone else with the power to make decisions that may affect the farm industry, the better our chances for the kind of outcomes we'd all like to see."
Help is also available through financial support and technical assistance from the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program (CAFSP). Available to producers who have completed an EFP, CAFSP offers up to $50,000 for a wide range of on-farm environmental improvements. Technical support for completing these improvements is also available from CAFSP.
For more information on CAFSP, call the program office toll-free at 1-800-667-8567. More information on the EFP program is available on the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company Web site at www.AlbertaEFP.com or by calling toll-free 1-866-844-2337.
This article is reprintable with credit to AEFP as follows "Reprinted courtesy of the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company; www.albertaEFP.com".
