Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The development of CFEAT was started in north-eastern Finland in Kainuu in the
mid-1990s. Various experts and advisors in the field as well as the Kainuu Dairy
Cooperative and the Kainuu Regional Environment Centre took part in the project.
During the project in 1995-2000 assessments based on CFEAT were made on about
700 farms, and on about 350 of them the assessment was made twice. The objective of
the project was to prove that farm applies an environmental friendly production practice
which takes the conditions and care of the animals into account, and to use these
arguments in the marketing of the milk produced on these farms.
By 2005 altogether 1337 environmental assessments had been made, of which 40%
were second or third reassessments. This represents about 1% of the total number of dairy
and cattle farms in Finland, but the number is steadily rising. Most of the farms are
located in the strong cattle production regions in Finland (mainly central and northern
parts of the country).
Today CFEAT is maintained and developed by the ProAgria Association of Rural
Advisory Centres (ProAgria ARAC), whose advisers go through the farming activities
together with the farmer and look for development targets. So far CFEAT has only been
used on cattle and dairy farms, but the assessment is being developed further to make it
applicable to farms specialising in crop production as well.
Method
CFEAT is a tool for dairy and beef cattle farms for classifying and grading activities
that are significant in terms of the environment. Main emphasis is on activities with the
greatest environmental impacts or which promote animal welfare or landscape
management on the farm the most. The assessment is made from the perspective of plant
production, care for the animals and conditions in the production building, water and
waste management and landscape management. Each perspective is divided into sub-
sections and graded according to the level or results of the activity.
Grades are awarded
only for actions which go beyond the statutory requirements, which means that farms are
rewarded for undertaking additional measures.
CFEAT looks for the strengths and development needs from the perspectives of the
environmental conditions and animals and related management, and development plans
are drawn up for each sub-section. Progress in each development target can be measured
by repeating the measurement in the following year or after 2-3 years. CFEAT comprises
three main elements which can be measured either separately or together, according to the
needs and wishes of the customer. These are 1) plant production, 2) water and waste
management and environmental management and 3) care for the animals and conditions
in the production building.
The total number of points available for all sections is 100. The conditions in each
section are classified into four categories (poor, satisfactory, good, and excellent) on the
basis of levels set for each category. The environmental impacts of the activities are
assessed on the arable lands of the farm and production building, all the way to the farm's
gate. CFEAT grades and classifies the production processes of a cattle farm by stages.
The sub-sections of CFEAT constitute separate entities which can also be used alone.
The measurement starts with an assessment interview, which covers the basic
information on the farm: size of the farm, type of production, average returns, location,
water bodies (if the farm borders on waters) and extent of the activity. After this, the
different sub-sections of the main elements referred to above are examined and the
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