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A regular newsletter produced
by NSW Agriculture reporting research findings and activities which underpin
the development of internationally acceptable accreditation systems for
sustainable agricultural production, environment management and new agri-industry
systems. Contributions are welcome. Contact: The Editor,
Gavin Tinning, EMS in Agriculture Workshop Secretariat Ph (02) 66261139
Fax (02) 66283264 Email gavin.tinning@agric.nsw.gov.au
or
Genevieve Carruthers: Ph:
(02) 66261237 Fax (02) 66283264 Email genevieve.carruthers@agric.nsw.gov.au
or
Upcoming EMS events
An "Introduction to EMS for Agriculture" course is to be held at "Tocal", the NSW Agriculture College, near Maitland, NSW on May 15-16, 2001. The course is aimed at assisting farmers to develop an understand-ing of EMS and to start preparing their own EMS. It will also be highly relevant for consultants, resource management agency staff and others working with farmers and agriculture. Accommodation is available at the college. Please contact Genevieve Carruthers (0266 261 237, or e-mail genevieve.carruthers@agric.nsw.gov.au) to register interest in attendance.
EMS in Agriculture conference
An EMS in Agriculture conference is to be held November 6-8, 2001 in Ballina, NSW. RIRDC is provid-ing seed funding for this event and additional sponsor-ship is being sought. A call for papers is now being made to assist session planning. Please contact Genevieve Carruthers to register interest in attendance.
It is also planned to have a pre- or post-conference tour to a number of agricultural businesses in the Northern NSW/Southern Queensland district (including essen-tial oil, aquaculture, vegetable, piggery and nursery businesses) that either have achieved, or are working towards ISO 14001 certification. This tour will only go ahead if there are enough participants so please regis-ter interest soon.
EMS in viticulture
Contributed by David Baker, Viticare EMS Officer
The Australian Wine and Grape Industry has long been recognised by the community to be "Clean and Green" and is determined to ensure that this remains the case. With this in mind, the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture (CRCV) has identified the poten-tial value of EMS by including them as a key compo-nent of its Viticare Initiative. The aim of Viticare is to enhance producers' capacity to produce quality grapes while fostering the adoption of sustainable vineyard practices.
The role of this component of Viticare is the plan-ning, developing and assisting of the implementation of EMS for Australian viticulturists. The intent is to produce generic processes and protocols for EMS incorporating best environmental management prac-tices and sustainability indicators. The aim is to ensure that adoption and maintenance of EMS in viticulture is both practical and effective.
Work, which commenced early 2000, has focused to date upon developing a framework for EMS that can meet the needs of all in the Industry, irrespective of the scale and location of the enterprise. The framework that has been developed provides a multi-step pathway, ranging from the simplest of environmental man-agement methods to the most complex and wide reach-ing EMS options. This framework was presented at the recent National Wine Industry and the Environment Conference in Adelaide (Oct 31-Nov 1, 2000) and received a favourable response.
Current and future work of the EMS component of the Viticare initiative includes:
For more information,
contact David Baker
EMS under consideration
A flurry of end of year activity concerning EMS occurred in November 2000, with two meetings in Canberra and a third in Launceston examining the current research on EMS, various agency roles and potential linkages with quality assurance schemes. All three meetings saw many delegates expressing the desire to move beyond merely talking about EMS towards facilitating the adoption of a systems approach by farmers, with much discussion on how to make this happen.
Murray Darling Basin Workshop
Contributed by Sandy Robinson, Manager Irrigated Regions Program, Murray-Darling Basin Commission
The MDBC is investigating ways of improving the adoption of best management practices throughout the irrigation industries of the Basin. A project "Feasibility of introducing an audit and certification model to foster better management practice in natural resource management in irrigation across the Murray-Darling Basin", led by URS Australia (Dames and Moore - NRM) has been running since 1999.
A meeting in Canberra on 15 November 2000 was held to examine progress of the project to date.
Approximately 70 stakeholders attended. Specifically the workshop discussed the project findings in rela-tion to drivers, the links between EMS and natural resource management outcomes and the feasibility of a certification/audit mechanism to deliver these. The workshop also discussed what needs to be considered in the next stage of the project. Workshop partici-pants expressed a range of different views on the issues and the way forward.
As a result of this workshop it has been agreed that formal links be established with the Commonwealth -State Working Group on EMS (Sustainable Land and Water Resource Management Committee EMS Working Group) to ensure their work and MDBC work is complementary and informed by each others progress. A further recommendation from the MDBC committee was that two industries and two catchments be identified within the Basin area where further exam-ination of the ideas developed during the study could be tested. The workshop comments on future work are now contributing to establishing the scope and arrangements for the next stage of the project.
It is intended to finalise the workshop report as a stand-alone publication (with appendices covering workshop presentations, process, attendees etc.). This document will be circulated to all who attended the workshop and any other interested parties.
For further information contact: Sandy Robinson, sandy.robinson@mdbc.gov.au
RIRDC meeting
On November 16, 2000, the Rural Industry and Research Development Corporation hosted a meeting of approximately 40 participants, ranging from farm-ers, R and D corporations representatives, state agri-culture Departments staff, CSIRO staff, universities researchers, to consultants. The meeting sought to exchange information on current EMS work and to discuss future research directions and the develop-ment of research priorities.
The meeting established a number of priority areas for research including:
A number of linkages
were made between projects, with participants agreeing that an annual EMS
confer-ence would form a useful way to continue the infor-mation exchange.
For further information contact Dr George Wilson, RIRDC georgewilson@awt.com.au
Environmental Management Systems Summit, Launceston - 21 November 2000
Contributed by Jane Lovell TQA and Philippa Rowland, AFFA
Over 70 delegates from across Australia attended the recent Environmental Management Systems Summit, part of the 2nd National On-Farm Food Safety and Quality Assurance Conference. Participants included growers, agency representatives, consultants and auditors.
Sponsored by AFFA, and organised by Tasmanian Quality Assured, the EMS summit was called to exam-ine ways to avoid many of the pitfalls now evident in the vast array of frequently incompatible QA schemes for farm produce. The meeting heard a range of pre-sentations on EMS work currently being undertaken in various states, agencies and industries. Topics cov-ered market trends with respect to EMS and grower experiences with implementation of EMS systems.
Wesley Hazell, of Hazell Bros. Agriculture (Tasmania) gave an interesting presentation on the integrated management system used across all parts of their business, including their horticultural, beef and wool enterprises. Wesley believes the EMS approach has improved business management, has assisted in gaining contracts, and provided a good basis for applying for resource management funding.
Delegates broke into working groups and identified positive outcomes from current approaches to imple-mentation of EMS on-farm as well as a number of key concerns and potential solutions to these issues. There was general discussion of the specific elements that could be addressed in an on-farm environmental man-agement system. The summit strongly supported the development of integrated management systems, with the opportunity for EMS to build on to existing quality assurance systems. There was a preference for volun-tary, flexible, industry-led systems, ideally able to be implemented in stages. ISO 14001 was seen as a useful template, particularly due to its international status.
The major areas of concern related to the costs asso-ciated with implementing and maintaining a certified environmental management system, the as yet unquantified benefits and the likelihood of a plethora of systems and auditors as has happened with quality assurance/management.
Other areas of concern included;
Potential solutions also
revolved around the cost/benefit issue. Strong support was expressed for
simple systems that are cheap to maintain and moni-tor.
Demonstration of tangible benefits for those who implement environmental management systems, such as financial incentives and reduced government licence fees/fines if certified EMS in place was seen to be important. The development of guidance docu-ments such as Codes of Practice, Natural Resource standards or indicators was suggested by a number of groups. Communication and development of part-nerships between government, industry, auditors, markets and consumers/community were strongly supported, as was the need to link EMS systems with existing quality assurance systems.
For further details or copies of the proceedings, con-tact Philippa Rowland philippa.rowland@brs.gov.au
Second Environmental Economics Round Table July 2000: Proceedings
Environment Australia has advised that the above proceedings contain papers relating to the 2nd session "Environmental management systems to help achieve an ecologically sustainable economy". The proceed-ings can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/epcg/eeu/eeu_home2.html#Publications This site has a number of papers relevant to the eco-nomics of sustainability.
For further information contact Jeanette Heycox at jeanette.heycox@ea.gov.au
Benchmarking sustainability
Go Mark Foods in Victoria recently examined the sustainability of 36 farms in the Labertouche Creek/Bunyip River area (Western Port Bay Catchment), using 75 indicators from the Go Mark "10 Steps to Sustainable Farming" program. Funding for the project was received from the Victorian EPA. All farmers received confidential individual ratings and information for their farms' performance. An overall catchment report was also made available to the pub-lic.
The project considered horticultural, beef, dairy, and poultry enterprises and ranked participating farms against benchmarks derived for the area. The project identified priority sustainability issues for individual farms and the local community that included environmental, economic and social con-cerns.
Key issues for both farms and the catchment identified within the project included tree cover, biodiversity decline, soil health, effluent management, whole-farm planning and financial security. Go Mark uses a combination of Natural Step Principles, ISO 14001 significant impact assessment, sustainability classification and processes in their assessment and benchmarking systems.
For further information, contact Go Mark Foods at www.gomarkfoods.com.au
ISO 14001 and Aerial Agriculture
Believed to be a world first, Jones Air (St. George and Dirranbandi, SW Qld) achieved certification to ISO 14001 in July 2000. Prompted by the beef contamina-tion crisis in 1998/99 and the associated focus on aeri-al agriculture, Jones Air worked with consultant Dr.
Lyndal Hugo (AEMS Pty. Ltd of Toowoomba) to develop an EMS that addressed the environmental impacts associated with aerial application of agricul-tural compounds.
Company principal, Peter Jones, says that the certi-fication goes beyond achieving a competitive edge.
The ISO process is being used as a business manage-ment tool to ensure that the company has control of their activities and to ensure that areas for improve-ment can be highlighted. Jones Air found that while there was a reasonable amount of paperwork involved much was actually already covered under routine operations. In addition, using the ISO process meant that these records are put to good use in assess-ing the progress of the business, and are not being kept for the sake for keeping records. Jones Air feel that implementation of an EMS allows them to account for risks where possible and to demonstrate due diligence in their operations. The cooperation of clients and the sharing of responsibility are seen to be crucial elements in the appropriate and accountable application of compounds to farms.
Several other aerial operators have now begun the process of implementing ISO 14001, including Moura Aerial Agriculture and Aero Professional Services at Emerald. In addition, the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia (AAAA) has recently changed the "Spraysafe" program to reflect the need for a compliance program involving external audits (contact Phil Hurst, AAAA Executive Officer on phil@aerialag.com.au for more information on this).
Contact either Peter Jones, Jones Air on 07 4625 5366 or Dr Lyndal Hugo at aems@ozxpress.com.au for further information.
Environmental Management Systems Working Group (EMSWG)
In recognition of the potential significance of environ-mental management systems (EMS) to agriculture and resource management agencies, the Sustainable Land and Water Resources Management Committee (SLWRMC) has established a national working group to consider how governments might maximise oppor-tunities from and facilitate implementation of EMS in agriculture.
SLWRMC is part of the inter-governmental system for coordinating responses to agricultural issues in Australia (see http://www.affa.gov.au/ docs/operating_environment/armcanz/slwrmc.html). The work-ing group includes government representatives from the Commonwealth, all Australian States and New Zealand.
Terms of reference for the working group are to:
The contact person for
the EMSWG is Mr Len Banks in NSW Agriculture, len.banks@agric.nsw.gov.au
OVERSEAS EMS NEWS
Iowa Soybean Association pursues EMS development on an industry basis
Contributed by Roger Wolf
The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) has recently employed their first ever Director of Environmental Programs, Roger Wolf. Wolf is in the process of designing a comprehensive Environmental Services Program for the 8000+ USA members. Over the last couple of months he has been successful in generating buy-in support for developing and servicing EMS for agriculture. Policy resolutions that support use of EMS's have now been developed and these enable the Association to lobby for state and federal policy that further supports use of EMS's. A strategic plan for developing and delivering EMS support services is currently under development.
For more information, contact Roger Wolf rwolf@iasoybeans.com
Want more information on EMS ?
Where to start?
Guidebook to EMS
It is hoped that a soon
to be produced guidebook to environmental management systems available
to agriculture, will further assist farmers and others interested in comparing
the range of potential systems available.
Review of EMS
An independent review of
environmental management systems for Australian agriculture was recently
completed and presented at the EMS in Agriculture workshop. Outlining many
of the issues for EMS and the opportunities presented to agriculture, the
author, Jason Alexandra, makes particular note of:
Web sites of interest
Guelph Farming Systems: http://
www. oac. uoguelph. ca/ www/ FSR/
Globenet: http://
www. iso14000. net/
Farm A Syst: http://
www. wisc. edu/ farmasyst/
Still need more?
If you want to find out more about EMS, the workshop or any other of the issues raised in this newsletter, feel free to contact either:
Genevieve Carruthers
Ph: (02) 66261237 Fax (02)
66283264
Email genevieve.carruthers@agric.nsw.gov.au
or
Gavin Tinning
Ph (02) 66261139 Fax (02)
66283264
Email gavin.tinning@agric.nsw.gov.au
Recognising that some of the information in this document is provided by third parties, the State of New South Wales, the author and the publisher take no responsibility for the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of any information included in the document provided by third parties.
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