Environmental Farm Plan

The Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) Program is an educational program, delivered by the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. The EFP program helps farmers identify and assess environmental risks on their properties and enables farmers to incorporate environmental considerations into their everyday business decisions.

The EFP Program is confidential, practical, available at no cost to the farm, and is available to all registered farms in Nova Scotia.

Environmental Farm Plans need to be updated every five years and are required for some provincial funding applications. New to the EFP Program? Sign your farm up here.

Here is what to expect from the EFP process:

Initial Review

Your initial review will consist of an interview and an on-farm visit. A coordinator will either conduct the interview over the phone and then will arrange a visit to your farm to ask you some follow-up questions and have you lead them on a tour of your property, or the interview and visit can be combined and occur at the same time.  The coordinator will point out areas of environmental risk and discuss recommendations with you during the visit. After the visit, you will receive an EFP report (along with your Appendix A: Risk Ratings and Appendix B: Action Plan).

Follow-ups

After your initial review, your assigned coordinator will be available to you for questions and consultation. Your farm plan will need to be updated every five years. When your farm plan is due for an update, you are responsible for reaching out to schedule the renewal. During the follow-up visit, you and your coordinator will discuss your future project goals, reassess your environmental risk ratings and your efforts on your farm’s previous action plan. Following this visit, your coordinator will send you an updated report with new appendices to reflect changes on your farm.

Is my Farm Plan Up-to-Date?

Not sure if your plan is up to date? Reach out to your coordinator at any time to check on the status of your farm plan, get support in making any necessary changes, or to schedule follow-ups.

The EFP is funded through the Sustainable CAP is a five-year, $3.5-billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and resiliency of Canada’s agriculture, agri‐food and agri‐based products sector. This includes $1 billion in federal programs and activities and a $2.5-billion commitment that is cost-shared 60 per cent federally and 40 per cent provincially/territorially for programs that are designed and delivered by provinces and territories.