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An Examination of the Environmental Farm Plan and its Role in Agri-Environmental Policy and Programs in Alberta
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- Author / Creator
- Abdurasulova, Kamola
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The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program has been the cornerstone of Canada’s agricultural policy frameworks since 2003. It is a voluntary, self-administered program designed to help agricultural producers assess and mitigate environmental risks on their farms. The EFP program has seen varied levels of adoption across the country, with notably lower uptake in Western provinces. This research provides a comprehensive examination of the EFP program at both farm and municipal levels using a case study of Alberta. Key areas of investigation include the historical development and current processes of the EFP program, the impact of agri-environmental extension efforts, and the influence of farm and producer-specific characteristics and industry standards. We employ a range of econometric models to assess data from various sources, including government databases, the Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture Tracking (ESAT) survey rounds from 2014 to 2023, and direct communications with stakeholders to explain the low adoption rates in the province. At the municipal level, given the unique agronomic conditions, information exchange methods, and varying levels of agri-environmental and EFP extension services and funding in each municipality, we utilize the two-way fixed effects approach to control for time and municipality-related unobserved heterogeneity to determine the factors affecting EFP completion. Our findings reveal that agri-environmental extension efforts are crucial in increasing program adoption. The role of industry standards and collaborative efforts among agricultural organizations are also emphasized as significant factors in driving program participation. Additionally, municipalities with a high proportion of large farms, earning annual gross farm receipts exceeding $250,000, exhibited higher EFP completion rates. At the farm level, we employ the logit model to determine the factors influencing the adoption decisions of agricultural producers. Factors such as conservation training attendance and farm income over $250,000 positively influenced EFP adoption. The positive impact of the farm income over $250,000 in both farm and municipality level analyses suggest that most of Alberta’s agricultural land might be covered by an EFP, as producers operating larger farms have adopted the program. Furthermore, we investigate the impact of EFP completion on BMP adoption across several agri-environmental risk areas as indicated by the ESAT survey. Given that EFP completion is required to access BMP cost-shared funding in Alberta, we assume that the EFP is endogenous in the BMP adoption process. Employing the two-step control function and instrumental variables (IV) approaches, we find that the EFP is endogenous in the overall, water quality and quantity, and energy and climate change related BMPs adoption.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2024
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.