News

An environmental report card for Michigan farmers

Michigan’s environmental assurance program is creating a database that will provide farmers with an environmental report card.

Program Manager Joe Kelpinski tells Brownfield information will be collected as farmers work through voluntary risk assessments in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP).

“The technician will document when practices have been implemented by the farms and our goal with that is that at the end of the year, the technician can generate basically an environmental report card for the producer.”

Kelpinski says the report card will tell farmers the positive environmental outcomes of implementing conservation practices or changing management practices on their farms.  “That will allow the farmers to actually show their neighbors, ‘This is the affect we’re having on the environment.’”  He says the information will also help recognize efforts being made by farmers to improve the environment even though they may not be able to complete MAEAP verification.

AUDIO: Interview with Joe Kelpinski