While many of the partnerships described above have industry or commodity groups as a partner, some programs are developed and led by the private sector.
- The On Farm Assessment and Environmental Review (OFAER) Program provides a free, confidential assessment of animal production operations throughout the United States. The programs goal is to raise environmental awareness and stewardship in an effort to keep animal agriculture a self-regulated industry. The program helps give producers an edge regarding the public perception of their operation and offers cost savings by taking advantage of a third party’s animal production and environmental stewardship knowledge. Standardized forms help the assessors conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of all production operations and manure management practices and also serve as a checklist to evaluate the operational conditions of the facility at the time of the assessment. Practices and conditions assessed during the onsite visit are grouped into five major assessment categories including the general site conditions; buildings, sheds and lots; manure management; manure collection, storage and treatment; manure utilization and mortality management. This program offers the ideal way to have an independent third party assessment conducted using competent assessors with proven agricultural knowledge. The program is offered through America’s Clean Water Foundation and EMS, LLC which also offers services in nutrient management and conservation planning and animal welfare assurance review.
- Iowa Soybean Association’s CEMSA program. Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture (CEMSA) is a project to implement an EMS, which is practical and feasible, for use in a farming operation. The agricultural EMS helps define a farm’s environmental policy and guides a farmer through planning, implementing, evaluating and reviewing business decisions that affect the environment. It provides a way to evaluate existing environmental risks on a farm. Once risks are identified, they are prioritized and an action plan is developed to address the risks. A custom-made EMS plan seeks to lessen possible detrimental environmental impacts related to a farm’s inputs, production processes and outputs. Ten Iowa farmers participated in a pilot EMS writing process. They designed and refined EMS into a system that could be applied to their individual farms. The EMS process includes a series of group work sessions, individual on-farm visits and each participant’s investment of time and energy. Up to 150 farmers are expected to participate in CEMSA.
- Each livestock commodity group has programs and educational tools.
o National Pork Producers
o National Milk Producers Federation
o U.S. Poultry and Egg Association
o Poultry Water Quality Consortium
o National Cattlemans Association