Better Pork - October 2016

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EMERGENCYPLANNING
to have an emergency plan in place,
Brine points to a potential challenge
for all farmers. He says, “No. Gener-
ally speaking, and to my knowledge,
most insurance companies don’t
require an emergency plan. However,
part of the process we engage in with
farmers is the risk inspection, which
is an opportunity for these farmers
to learn from us about the kinds of
emergency measures that can help
avoid risk.”
In fact, the question of whether
farmers are required, by regulation
or otherwise, to have an emergency
plan in place is not as simple as it
sounds. On the one hand, there is
no farming- or agricultural-specific
regulation requiring all farmers to
have an emergency plan. On the
other hand, some laws, including
non-agricultural legislation, may well
require such emergency planning.
For example, the lack of a specific
agricultural regulatory requirement
exhibits itself in the OSCIA emer-
gency plan, which is part of the orga-
nization’s environmental farm plan.
Although an environmental farm
plan is required for farmers to secure
various sources of governmental
funding, the emergency plan itself
doesn’t actually have to be filled out.
“The emergency plan is not a
mandatory part of the environmen-
tal farm plan,” Jacobs explains. “Ev-
eryone who attends the workshops is
encouraged to complete the emer-
gency plan, and we are confident
that most of them are completing
the parts of the plan that are most
relevant to their operations.”
Another component of on-farm
emergency planning that isn’t spe-
cifically regulated is fire prepared-
ness. Bianca Jamieson, ministry
spokesperson for OMAFRA, writes
in an email response, “Farms are not
required to have emergency plans
for fires. Some insurance companies
may offer incentives to have emer-
gency plans, and some municipal fire
departments offer a free inspection
program to assist in plan develop-
Emergency contact numbers are
displayed in key locations on the
Terpstra farm in Brussels.