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Partnerships for Livestock Environmental Management Systems:
National Stakeholders Roundtable, May 30-31, 2001

Summary

A diverse group of stakeholders in livestock agriculture gathered last May to discuss the potential of Environmental Management Systems to address local priority environmental issues in livestock agriculture. The gathering of producers, government agency representatives, researchers, environmentalists and others was hosted by the land-grant university collaborators on a USDA/CSREES/IFAFS grant, "Partnerships for Livestock Environmental Management Systems." Project sponsors include the U.S. EPA and USDA/NRCS.

The Environmental Management System is a voluntary and flexible strategy for managing the environmental impacts of any operation -- large or small, livestock or crop production. Speaking at the conference, Jim Horne of the US EPA noted, "It is now a matter of EPA policy to strategically support the adoption of EMSs in particular sectors of the economy…. For the most part the agency is convinced that if implemented the right way, EMSs are a very powerful tool…. Livestock agriculture is a sector that I think could benefit from this more systematic approach. The real key is how to design it and how to make it usable for producers and produce the kind of benefits that I think people in the industry will want to see out of it…. Role number one [for citizens groups] is to be at the table during the design phase. Those groups have got…perspectives that the industry and regulatory agencies need to hear, in a setting that hopefully is constructive, designed to build something that everybody can ultimately be satisfied with."

Interest in the Roundtable was high, and the gathering included more than 70 participants with diverse concerns. Government agents, for example, focused on certification processes and standards. Industry representatives and producers expressed concerns about incentives, confidentiality, and validation processes. Environmental organization participants wanted to verify the effectiveness of EMSs (individually and cumulatively) in meeting environmental goals. These gaps in expectations are illustrated in the accompanying table.

Focus groups on the second day of the Roundtable reached the following summary conclusions.

• Government agencies should support EMS implementation with flexibility, commodity organizations should participate, and farmers should develop their individualized Environmental Management Systems.
• EMS can serve as an educational vehicle to promote broader understanding of the needs of producers as well as understanding of the environmental impacts of agriculture;
• Though economic incentives are needed to promote EMS adoption by livestock producers, other benefits may include long-term farm sustainability, improved communications with neighbors, a more positive image with the public, financial gains, the avoidance, reduction and improved management of risk, and improved product marketability.
• University Extension programs should be involved in EMS design and delivery to assure unbiased and scientifically sound approaches, and should base their programs in the International Standard for EMS, ISO 14001. In particular, the Partnerships Project should measure EMS benefits to livestock producers, identify outcomes that are necessary to meet the needs of the livestock, regulatory, and impacted communities, discover key factors for success in EMS implementation, provide public education about EMS, document case studies of producer application, and develop a sustainable framework for implementing EMS tools using existing resources.
• The EMS approach needs to build on existing management programs such as pest and nutrient management.
• Substantial challenges in developing and implementing livestock EMSs include: integration with existing regulatory/voluntary frameworks; minimum environmental categories and standards; defining producer accountability for achieving environmental targets; ensuring "auditors" are trained and their findings are verifiable; enhancing communication between producers and the public; identifying outcomes that are quantifiable, validated, and feasible; identifying the minimum level of disclosure that will satisfy non-producers without sacrificing the goals of the EMS; and, finding ways to generate feedback data for evaluating success or failure without making that information accessible to uses that would disadvantage a livestock producer who is making a good-faith voluntary effort to implement the system.

To see the full proceedings online, and for more information about the project, visit: http://www.uwex.edu/AgEMS/livestock/

Gaps in EMS Expectations

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