Environmental Management Systems in the Yarra Valley a case study on integration with quality assurance and integrated catchment management

A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation by Jane Fisher, Edited by Alison Medhurst February 2005 RIRDC Publication No 05/028 RIRDC Project No DAV-186A

ii

© 2005 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 1 74151 127 5 ISSN 1440-6845 Environmental Management Systems in the Yarra Valley – a case study on integration with quality assurance and integrated catchment management Publication No. 05/028 Project No. DAV-186A The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable industries. The information should not be relied upon for the purpose of a particular matter. Specialist and/or appropriate legal advice should be obtained before any action or decision is taken on the basis of any material in this document. The Commonwealth of Australia, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the authors or contributors do not assume liability of any kind whatsoever resulting from any person's use or reliance upon the content of this document. This publication is copyright. However, RIRDC encourages wide dissemination of its research, providing the Corporation is clearly acknowledged. For any other enquiries concerning reproduction, contact the Publications Manager on phone 02 6272 3186. Researcher Contact Details Alison Medhurst Department of Primary Industries Private Bag 15 Ferntree Gully Delivery Centre Vic 3156 Phone: 03 9210 9246 Fax: 03 9800 3521 Email: Alison.Medhurst@dpi.vic.gov.au

Jane Fisher CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems PO Box 102 Toowoomba Qld 4350

In submitting this report, the researcher has agreed to RIRDC publishing this material in its edited form. RIRDC Contact Details Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Level 1, AMA House 42 Macquarie Street BARTON ACT 2600 PO Box 4776 KINGSTON ACT 2604 Phone: 02 6272 4819 Fax: 02 6272 5877 Email: rirdc@rirdc.gov.au Website: http://www.rirdc.gov.au Published in February 2005 Printed on environmentally friendly paper by Canprint

iii

Foreword The objective of this project was to develop and test a regional environmental management system (EMS) model for the Yarra Valley region in Victoria. The project aimed to develop a prototype or model for linking farm QA & BMP’s to a regional EMS using consultative and negotiated methods. A number of factors made the Yarra Valley an ideal place to pilot the concept of a regional EMS. These include conflict on the urban rural fringe about traditional production methods and concerns about contributions to the level of pollution in the Yarra River and ultimately Port Phillip Bay. A regional EMS is seen as an important tool for growers to demonstrate to consumers that food grown in the Yarra Valley is produced in an environmentally responsible manner. This publication records the processes involved in developing the Yarra Valley Regional EMS. Participatory processes were used throughout the project to engage with stakeholders in identifying environmental issues and developing the tools to enable industry to adopt the regional EMS. This approach resulted in a high level of ownership and advocacy for the project by the participants. The primary outputs of the project were the production of Regional Environmental Best Management Practices for Viticulture in the Yarra Valley and a Self-Assessment Questionnaire. As a result of this project and the ownership and support of the Yarra Valley wine grape growers two grower-sourced funding opportunities (a GWRDC Regional Innovation and Technology Adoption grant and a Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee grant) have been obtained to continue the implementation phase of the Yarra Valley EMS in viticulture. This project was funded from RIRDC Core Funds which are provided by the Australian Government. Co-investment was provided by the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria through its Naturally Victorian initiative. This report, an addition to RIRDC’s diverse range of over 1200 research publications, forms part of our Environment and Farm Management R&D program, which aims to support innovation in agriculture and the use of frontier technology to meet market demands for accredited sustainable production. Most of our publications are available for viewing, downloading or purchasing online through our website: • downloads at www.rirdc.gov.au/fullreports/index.html • purchases at www.rirdc.gov.au/eshop Tony Byrne Acting Managing Director Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation

iv

Acknowledgments Information and assistance was sought from Daryl Joyce (DPI), Anne-Maree Boland (DPI), Anne Dennis (DSE), Robyn Male (Evelyn County Estate), Jim White (North Ridge Estate), Damien de Castella (Yarra Ridge Vineyard), Chris Keyes (Fergusson Winery), Gavan Oakley (Acacia Ridge), Chris Messerle (Yarra Glen Vineyards), Ryan Johnstone (Warramate), John Poulton (Fergusson Winery), Hugh Hull (Yarra Ridge), Philip Lobley (De Bortoli), John Evans (Yering Station), Anthony Brain (Shantell Vineyard), Ian Cook (NMIT), Maris Feldgen (Emporers Prize), Alan Smith (Lirralirra Estate), Mike Brocksopp (TarraWarra Estate) , Ray Guerin (BRL Hardy), Linda Gibson (Landmark).

Reference Committee: Kym Mallamaci (DSE); Alan Crouch (DSE), Donna Burns (DSE), Jason Alexandra (Alexandra & Assoc.), Anne Langworthy (Swinburne University of Technology), Suzanna Finger (EPA), Damien de Castella (Beringer Blass), Terri Burgi, Peter Rankin (Melbourne Water), Anne Dennis (DSE), Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges).

Assistance in developing the Regional Environmental Position Statement:

Sam Violi (CAB) and Johnathon Jenkins (Strawberry Industry), Trish Moore and Gerald Brinson (Flower Industry), John Osmelak (Flowers Victoria), Graham McGregor, Karen Meuwissen and Lorraine Chapman (Rubus Industry), Damien de Castella and Chris Messerle (Wine Grape Industry), Jim Sawyer (Dairy Industry), Richelle Bunbury (Vegetable Growers Association), Kevin Saunders (Apple Industry), Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges, Centre for Agribusiness), Leo Koelewyn (Nursery Industry).

YV Fruits and Charlotte Brunt for allowing the YV Fruits Manual to be used as source material for the Best Management Practices.

The Centre for Agribusiness for their support of the project The GVWIDC, particularly the executive officer Spencer Field, for recognition of the need to demonstrate sound environmental best practice, and financial support for training

Abbreviations AFFA – Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Australia BMP – Best Management Practices CRCV – Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture DPI – Department of Primary Industries – previously DNRE – Department of Natural Resources and Environment DSE – Department of Sustainability and Environment – previously DNRE – Department of Natural Resources and Environment EMS – Environmental Management System GVWIDC – Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee PPWPCMA – Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority QA – Quality Assurance SAQ – Self- Assessment Questionnaire VERA – Viticare Environmental Risk Assessment YVWGA – Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association

v

Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................ iii Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. iv Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................... iv Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1

What is an EMS?................................................................................................................................. 1 What is a Regional EMS? ................................................................................................................... 1 Why a Regional EMS in the Yarra Valley? ........................................................................................ 2

Objectives................................................................................................................................................ 4 Developing an approach to a regional EMS............................................................................................ 5

Which EMS System to Use? ............................................................................................................... 5 Stakeholder Engagement ..................................................................................................................... 6

Who are the stakeholders?............................................................................................................... 6 Stakeholder engagement - Government .......................................................................................... 6 Stakeholder engagement - Industry and Regional bodies ............................................................... 7 Stakeholder engagement - Regional Interests ................................................................................. 8

Participatory Approaches ........................................................................................................................ 9 Environmental Position Statement ........................................................................................................ 11

What is a regional environmental position statement, and what does it mean in an EMS? .............. 11 Meeting Process ............................................................................................................................ 11

Development of BMP’s using participatory processes ......................................................................... 13 Yarra Valley Self-Assessment Questionnaire Tool............................................................................... 15

What is a self-assessment tool? ......................................................................................................... 15 Developing the SAQ for the Yarra Valley ........................................................................................ 16

Discussion of Results ............................................................................................................................ 18 Implications : Assessment of the impact of the outcomes on industry in Australia ............................. 22 Appendix 1: Guidelines for Reference Group Operation...................................................................... 23 Appendix 2: Outcomes of the CRCV - NRE meeting........................................................................... 24 Appendix 3: Papers written from the project ........................................................................................ 28 Appendix 4: Industry focus group questionnaire .................................................................................. 34 Appendix 5: Environmental Position Statement Report ....................................................................... 41 Appendix 5: Yarra Valley Brand Code of Practice ............................................................................... 48 References ............................................................................................................................................. 60

vi

Executive Summary The objective of this project was to develop and test a regional environmental management system (EMS) model for the Yarra Valley region in Victoria. An Environmental Management System (EMS) is defined as “a systematic and methodical approach to planning, implementing and reviewing an organisation’s efforts to manage its environmental risks and impacts” (DNRE, 2001) while providing opportunities for improved business performance (AFFA, 2002). An EMS gives a management framework based on a simple “plan, do, check, act” cycle that achieves continuous improvement. The project aimed to develop a prototype or model for linking farm QA and BMP’s to a regional EMS using consultative and negotiated methods. A number of issues made the Yarra Valley an ideal place to pilot the concept of a regional EMS. These issues include conflict on the urban rural fringe about traditional production methods and concerns about contributions to the level of pollution in the Yarra River and ultimately Port Phillip Bay. A regional EMS is seen as an important tool for growers to demonstrate to consumers that food grown in the Yarra Valley is produced in an environmentally responsible manner. The model developed for development of a regional EMS consisted of the following steps: • Stakeholder engagement – across horticultural and agricultural industries in the Yarra Valley, at a

local, regional and national level; • Deciding which EMS structure to follow of the several processes available; • Development of tools for use in the process: regional environmental best practices and a regional

self-assessment questionnaire; • Development and delivery of training workshops; • Implementation of tools, development and implementation of action plans by individual growers. Participatory processes were used throughout the project to engage with stakeholders in identifying environmental issues and developing the tools to enable industry to adopt the regional EMS. This approach resulted in a high level of ownership and advocacy for the project by the participants. The primary outputs of the project were the production of Regional Environmental Best Management Practices for Viticulture in the Yarra Valley and a Self-Assessment Questionnaire. As a result of this project and the ownership and support of the Yarra Valley wine grape growers, two grower-sourced funding opportunities (a GWRDC Regional Innovation and Technology Adoption grant and a Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee grant) have been obtained to continue the implementation phase of the Yarra Valley EMS in viticulture.

1

Introduction What is an EMS? An Environmental Management System (EMS) is defined as “a systematic and methodical approach to planning, implementing and reviewing an organisation’s efforts to manage its environmental risks and impacts” (DNRE, 2001) while providing opportunities for improved business performance (AFFA, 2002). An EMS gives a management framework based on a simple “plan, do, check, act” cycle that achieves continuous improvement. In Australia’s National Framework for Environmental Management Systems EMS is described as a voluntary, flexible ‘systems approach’ that is based on a ‘plan, do, check, review cycle’ (Fig. 1). The common steps in EMS development by a business is development of an environmental policy, followed by an assessment of environmental risk and then implementation of appropriate change to address the environmental risks.

What is a Regional EMS? A regional EMS is an EMS that is tailored to a specific region. It takes into account the businesses operating in the region, the environmental issues affecting the region and the agencies (such as Catchment Management Authorities (CMA’s) and state and local government) working in the region. A regional EMS is both a process and a product. The process is the thinking and changes in attitude and behaviour that farmers will make in order to enact the changes required for sound environmental management. The product is the system or tools (documents) that will assist growers through the EMS process. The tools include a process for policy development by industry groups and individual landholders, best management practices and risk assessment tools. Many of the environmental issues confronted by industry are industry specific, and need to be addressed separately. For example, a annual horticultural crop like strawberries, which grows with raised plastic covered beds, uses lots of plastic and contrasts with the issues confronting perennial horticulturists which are often more long term strategies. At the same time, many of the issues are common across horticultural industries - environmentally sound storage and use of chemicals and maintenance and protection of biodiversity. There is a strong belief in agriculture (Cary, 2001) that every industry is different, as every farm is different. A regional EMS is the sum of all the individual business EMS’s within the catchment. In a diverse region like the Yarra Valley, the environmental risks associated with diverse agricultural enterprises (from viticulture to dairying) are different. Developing a regional EMS relies on industries and individual businesses within the region or catchment endorsing an overarching regional

Figure 1: EMS cycle: Plan, Do, Check, Review

2

environmental policy and incorporating that policy into their day-to-day activities. Nationally, catchment management plans have been or are being developed. Their implementation relies on commitment from individual landholders. Interpreting and implementing these catchment targets on farm is a major undertaking for any business. An EMS provides a mechanism for implementing catchment management plans by farm businesses. Why a Regional EMS in the Yarra Valley? The region covered by the project is defined by the Geographical Indication for the Yarra Valley wine zone (Figure 2). The region borders the towns of Gembrook (south), Kinglake (north), Wantirna (west) and Mount Gregory (east). Major towns include Lilydale, Healesville, Yarra Glen and St Andrews. The western boundary is 45 kilometres from east of Melbourne’s CBD.

Figure 2: Yarra Valley Geographic Indication (from http://www.awbc.com.au/) The project followed on from a series workshops in 1999 designed to raise awareness of environmental management in horticulture. A series of four workshops were held in the Barossa Valley, Sunraysia, the Yarra Valley and Tatura. Presentations were given at each of the workshops by Ms. Caroline Drummond from Linking Environment and Farming in the UK and by Dr Gary Jackson from Farm*A*Syst in Wisconsin in the United States to outline how environmental and social issues were being dealt with internationally (Fisher et al, 2000). Invited participants then workshopped local environmental issues, and discussed the value and relevance of the EMS approach to the local physical and business environment. The Yarra Valley Centre for Agribusiness felt that the approach would be useful to initiate locally. High value horticulture is an ideal agricultural sector in which to develop EMS, as the benefits will be quickly recognised by participants who are more closely connected to export markets than other industries. The Yarra Valley is a major rural centre on an urban fringe, and has issues in common with similar areas close to all capital cities and large regional centres, particularly intensification of agriculture to ensure high returns on expensive land. With horticultural and agricultural production worth $650 million, the Yarra Valley was seen as an ideal location for addressing the natural resource management issues of: • Water quality and availability • Pesticide use • Soil loss • Biodiversity • Urban-rural fringe conflict • Landscape amenity The project aimed to investigate methodologies and tools for developing and adopting EMS and their impact on adoption of EMS at three levels: by individual businesses, by industries, and regionally.

3

The whole of region approach involves the nursery, flower, winegrape, strawberry, apple, rubus, vegetable, grazing, pork, poultry and dairy industries to ensure industry endorsement of catchment outcomes. The project built on the earlier work done in developing the “Yarra Catchment Action Plan” (Port Phillip Catchment and Land Protection Board, 1999) and incorporates the catchment outcomes outlined in the document. The Regional EMS project had two components: Development of a Regional Environmental Management System; Development of Regional Environmental Best Practices for Viticulture.

Development of the Regional Environmental Best Practices for Viticulture (BMP’s) enabled the project to begin, and enabled the winegrape industry to be used as an industry case study for the project.

4

Objectives The objectives of the project were: To develop and test a model regional environmental management system (EMS) and develop a prototype or model for linking farm QA and BMP's, to a regional EMS using consultative and negotiated methods. • Build on and link a range of existing initiatives: Landcare; Viticare; QA; education and training

programs; R&D; ICM and water quality (Yarracare, nutrients etc); biodiversity and vegetation strategies, marketing and export development; and regional and statutory planning;

• Test the capacity of voluntary auditing and management systems (QA, BMP and EMS) combined

with integrated catchment management (ICM) to achieve environmental, productivity and marketing objectives;

• Develop a model for credible regional certification systems that can enhance regional identity and

recognition in domestic and export markets; • Assess and refine existing industry specific QA, BMP's and EMS and link these to wider strategies

and targets; • Develop industry based QA, BMP or EMS protocols for linking individual farms to a wider EMS,

regional environmental targets or catchment management strategies; • Establish a Yarra Valley EMS planning and management group to develop and implement an EMS

in a transparent and accountable fashion to meet industry, community and government requirements;

• Trial a model process that can be used as a national prototype for developing regional EMS; • Improve understanding of the opportunities, and barriers to linking enterprise and regional EMS; • Document the lessons of the process so that the model of a regional EMS can be transferred to

other regions and industries.

5

Developing an approach to a regional EMS The model developed for development of a regional EMS consisted of the following steps: • Stakeholder engagement – across horticultural and agricultural industries in the Yarra Valley, at a

local, regional and national level; • Deciding which EMS structure to follow of the several processes available; • Development of tools for use in the process: regional environmental best practices and a regional

self-assessment questionnaire; • Development and delivery of training workshops; • Implementation of tools, development and implementation of action plans by individual growers. Which EMS System to Use? The most recognised, auditable international EMS standard is ISO 14001 (Heisswolf et al, 2003). The standard establishes guiding principles for managing an environmental management system. However, it does not establish absolute requirements for environmental performance (AS/NZS ISO 14001, 1996). Various approaches to EMS have been developed within Australian agriculture. It was important for the EMS structure for the Yarra Valley to be compatible with those being developed by participating industries (winegrape, apple, strawberry, rubus, flowers, nursery, dairy and vegetable industries). Each of these industries were at different stages along the pathway to developing an environmental management system, and many had embarked on the EMS journey without necessarily realising that was the path they were on. A review of the different systems was undertaken (Table 1). Most industries have developed a tiered approach (Table 2), ranging from entry level (some environmental management, not documented) through to external audit by an independent third party auditor. It was decided to follow the seven tiered system developed by the Centre for Cooperative Research (CRCV) (Baker and Boland, 2000) because it was the most developed system at the time and because of the close links that the project had with the winegrape industry. This approach enables businesses to identify their current level of environmental practice, and to choose which level they aspire to. Table 1: Tools and processes developed by different industries that can used to develop an EMS. Industry Best Management

Practice Self-Assessment / Risk Assessment process

Auditable

Winegrape * Strawberry Vegetable Apple ** Flower Nursery Rubus In development Dairy *** * Developed at a national and local level ** Developed at a local level *** Developed nationally

6

Table 2: The CRCV seven level approach to EMS development and implementation for growers and wineries. Entry can be at any level depending upon the needs of the grower/winery. LEVEL 7: Environmental stewardship LEVEL 6: Independently certified EMS LEVEL 5: Full EMS (Audited By 2nd or 3 rd Party) LEVEL 4: Full EMS (Self declared) LEVEL 3: Issue Focus System LEVEL 2: Identify Environmental Aspects and Impacts, Best Management Practices LEVEL 1: No Formal Environmental Management The seven tiered approach enables people to enter the system at the level at which they feel comfortable, and to choose whether or not to go to the expense of audit. At this stage, the large companies that set the market standard are moving along the path of environmental management, but while it is clear that they will be demanding auditable systems from their supplying growers, it is not clear when this will take place. It is reasonable to expect this in the next five years. When this happens, the Yarra Valley EMS system will need to be benchmarked against the different wine company protocols. Stakeholder Engagement Who are the stakeholders? Environmental management is an area that raises great passion. It was clear from the outset of the project that managing stakeholder expectations would be an important part of the project. It was also clear that every stakeholder had a view about environmental management, and that every stakeholder thought that his or her particular view point was the most important, a common experience across the EMS ‘industry” (Boland, pers comm.). The stakeholders were divided into three categories: • Government; • Industry and Regional bodies; and • Growers. A reference group was established in January 2001 to bring together relevant government agencies and industry and regional groups. The purpose of the reference group was to provide specialised advice to the project officer and to act as a sounding board for project development. The group met three to four times each year. Guidelines for operation of the group were drawn up by Mr. Murray McIntyre and are listed in Appendix 1. The members of the reference group were: Anne Langworthy (Swinburne University and Centre for Regional Development), Peter Rankin (Melbourne Water), Kym Mallamaci (DPI, and strawberry industry), Damien de Castella (wine grape industry), Terry Burgi (apple industry), Susannah Finger (EPA), Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges), and Jason Alexandra (consultant) in addition to DPI project staff (Jane Fisher (2001-2003), Murray McIntyre (2001), Robert Sward (2001-2002) and Peter Carr (2003)). Stakeholder engagement - Government Government interests were represented on the reference group, and also in a number of other forums. Of particular concern to government representatives were biodiversity, and the role of government in development of EMS. Importantly NRE (as it was at the time) needed to justify its role in developing an EMS and concluded that the focus of EMS on sound natural resource management was very much a role for government, and justified government investment in the project.

7

Stakeholder engagement - Industry and Regional bodies The seven industries involved in the project were: winegrape, apple, strawberry, vegetables, rubus, flower and dairy. Each of these industries was in the process of developing industry-based EMS, although at different stages (Table 1). For a catchment based EMS to be adopted by farmers, it was necessary for the EMS coordinators in each of these industries to be aware of the project, and to be comfortable with relevant pieces of their industry based EMS to be incorporated into the Yarra Valley EMS. Agreement and ongoing networking were established with each industry. The degree of contact, and the complexity of the networking is detailed below: The Winegrape Industry Contact and agreement with the winegrape industry was established and maintained at three levels: local, statewide and nationally. Locally: contact was made with the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association (YVWGA) by regular attendance at Technical sub-committee meetings, through participation in organising local field days and occasional meetings with the central committee. A member of the YVWGA was also on the reference committee. Statewide: Regular contact was maintained with the Greater Victoria Wine Industry Development Committee (GVWIDC) through the executive officer, Spencer Field. Nationally: The CRCV began an EMS project in 2000 to develop various tools, including Best Management Practices for Viticulture and a risk assessment tool. A meeting (Appendix 2) was held to discuss how the national best management practices and the regional best practices would align. It was agreed to match document structure between the two projects using the following terms to emphasise the common approach between the two projects: It was agreed that the following terminology would be used when discussing the projects:

DPI - Regional Environmental Best Practices for Viticulture CRCV - Environmental Best Practice Protocols for the wine grape industry

Establishing that the words Environmental Best Practice were common to documentation from both projects was regarded as important in ensuring that the projects were recognised by industry as using the same approach and being linked. The purpose of the projects was also discussed: Purpose of the National approach Purpose of the Regional approach Economic (Business) Environment Community

Triple Bottom Line

National Framework Regional Implementation Industry • Associations • Corporates • Grower Groups

Groups Individual Growers (as part of a group - eg Yarra Valley Winegrape Growers Association)

(taken from minutes of meeting between CRCV and NRE EMS projects – see Appendix 2) Other Communication with the Wine Industry Project staff presented information about the project at the following forums: • CRCV Board meeting – Yarra Valley May 2002 (at the Boards request), • Second Wine Industry Technical Conference (2002) (The paper is available in Appendix 3), • Australian Conservation Foundation Grapeday, • Annual Greater Victoria Wine Industry research meeting (June, 2003), • Cool Climate Viticulture Forum (Knoxfield, August 2003).

8

Other Industries The Apple industry Locally: The YV Fruits group, a collective of apple growers in the Yarra Valley – regular contact maintained through Charlotte Brunt and Terry Burgi. The YV fruits group had developed a manual to address environmental issues associated with the industry, and offered free use of that by the EMS project, to ensure that the tools developed were compatible with processes they were already using. Nationally: Regular contact was maintained with the Australian Apple and Pear Growers Association Industry Development Officer, Val Hilton. Development of a national EMS framework for the apple industry was under consideration, but nothing formal was in place during the life of this project. Through a national project Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) guidelines were being developed and provided valuable information for the Yarra Valley EMS. The Strawberry industry Regular presentations were made to the Strawberry Growers Association, and regular meetings were held with Johnathon Jenkin, Victorian Industry Development Officer; Kym Mallamaci (DPI) and Sam Violi, president Strawberry Growers Association. The Strawberry growers have developed Best Management Practices for Soil and Nutrient management. The Vegetable industry Regular contact was maintained with Richelle Bunbury, EnviroVeg Project Officer for the Vegetable Growers Association. Richelle developed best practice guidelines and a checklist for the Victorian vegetable industry during the life of this project. The Flower industry The flower industry did not have a united front locally on environmental issues. A presentation was given to a group of gerbera growers in the region who then expressed interest in being involved in the process. The Rubus industry Discussions were held with Graham McGregor of DPI prior to appointment of Alison Brinson as Industry Development Officer mid 2003. Regular discussions were held with the IDO who is developing a draft set of BMP’s for the rubus industry which take into account environmental impacts. The Dairy industry Discussions were held with Cindy Neilsen and Cameron Gourley, DPI, Ellinbank and Roger Standen (Rendell McGuckian) who were involved in developing the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) approach for the dairy industry. Contact was also made with the Yarra Valley dairy farmers. Stakeholder engagement - Regional Interests The project officer met regularly with the board of Yarra Valley Centre of Agribusiness (CAB) to keep them up to date with the progress of the project including presenting at the first CAB Forum dinner in 2001. The Yarra Valley CAB is a partnership approach between stakeholders in the region, industry and government, supporting a regional approach to sustainable agricultural/business development (CAB, 2003) and is a key group for networking and promoting the Yarra Valley regional EMS.

9

Participatory Approaches An evaluation of awareness of environmental issues and EMS in the viticulture industry was undertaken at the start of the project. The semi-structured interviews (Appendix 4) revealed that there was a feeling that environmental management was not an issue for grape growers in the Yarra Valley. Meetings with key industry stakeholders from all the horticultural industries in the Yarra Valley showed that there was deep suspicion from many sectors of industry about the EMS process, particularly that government was using the process to prosecute growers who were non-compliant with legislation. At the time the project began, quality assurance had been diligently pursued by the strawberry and apple industries. The strawberry industry had followed a recipe approach as part of SQF 2001. The strawberry industry had been promised more money for their fruit if they were ISO 9000 accredited. The process of ISO 9000 accreditation cost individual businesses a substantial sum of money, and did not lead to the promised price gains and market share. Consequently, growers were very cynical about another such system being foisted on them by government, especially when no incentives were being offered. At the time few individual winegrape growers had adopted QA systems and so were less cautious about embarking on a new management system. All industry representatives spoken to were interested in the environment, but environmental ardour was tempered by financial concerns. Based on this initial research, it was decided to use experiential learning techniques and participatory processes in the development of the tools. Participatory approaches are widely recognised as being the best approach to improving sustainability in agriculture (Allen et al, 1995, Van de Fliert, 2003, Cary et al, 2002). The objective of the process was to raise awareness of environmental issues in the Yarra Valley, and to bring about change in attitudes and behaviour amongst participants. Catchment outcomes rely on change in management at the farm level. Participatory approaches have been demonstrated to develop strong ownership of issues, understanding of the solutions required, and a commitment to implementing practice change. Pannell (2001) identifies that “real decisions about farm management are made by individual farmers, not by catchment groups or regional NRM bodies”. Placing greater emphasis on the issues surrounding voluntary practice change in the absence of guaranteed market recognition and support of environmentally branded products was crucial to the success of the project. Participatory approaches are: • participant focussed • experiential • pragmatic • collaborative. Participatory process were used throughout the project to engage with stakeholders in identifying environmental issues, in developing the regional environmental best management practices for viticulture, and the self-assessment questionnaire. The benefits of the participatory approach to EMS development included: • development of knowledge and understanding of the environmental issues amongst participants; • development of a framework that enables environmental issues to be identified, and addressed in a

systematic and iterative fashion; • capacity building – empowerment of the participants to continue the process either as individuals

or as a group in a voluntary fashion after government withdraws from the process; • advocacy: participants in the process became the strongest champions for the process. The effectiveness of the participatory approach are best demonstrated by the following case-study: A prominent wine grape grower was opposed to the concept of the EMS. In a public meeting, he expressed his concerns that “this is a system developed by bureaucrats, and it will put the small grape grower out of business”. He expressed his concerns in viticultural forums and was not in support of

10

the project occurring in the Yarra Valley. The persuasive powers of people involved in the process convinced him to change his mind, and he now supports and participates in the process. The support by involved growers has also extended on beyond the end of the current project with two grower-sourced funding opportunities - a GWRDC Regional Innovation and Technology Adoption grant and a Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee grant - obtained to continue the implementation phase of the Yarra Valley EMS in viticulture.

11

Environmental Position Statement What is a regional environmental position statement, and what does it mean in an EMS? An environmental policy statement is one of the fundamental elements of an EMS. A regional environmental position statement defines the aspirations of the industries within the region for their environmental management. The key elements of the statement include references to both environmental and business management. The statement is structured, to identify in sequence:

1. What the region aspires to. 2. What industries within the region aspire to. 3. What individual businesses aspire to.

Figure 4: Developing a Regional Environmental Position Statement: (from l to r: Damien de Castella (back to camera), Chris Messerle, Trish Moore, Graham McGregor, Lorraine Chapman, Karen Meuwissen , Sam Violi, Johnathon Jenkins) Meeting Process As part of a process of developing a regional approach to sustainable agriculture in the Yarra Valley, a meeting was held on the 17th October 2002 at the Lilydale Campus of Swinburn University. Representatives from all agricultural industries in the region were invited to develop a short position statement on sustainable agriculture. The meeting was attended by the following people (with industries they represented at the meeting in parenthesis): Sam Violi (CAB, Strawberry Industry), Johnathon Jenkins (Strawberry Industry), Trish Moore and Gerald Brinson (Flower Industry), John Osmelak (Flowers Victoria), Graham McGregor, Karen Meuwissen and Lorraine Chapman (Rubus Industry), Damien de Castella and Chris Messerle (Wine Grape Industry), Jim Sawyer (Dairy Industry), Richelle Bunbury (Vegetable Growers Association), Kevin Saunders (Apple Industry), Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges, Centre for Agribusiness), Leo Koelewyn (Nursery Industry). The objectives for the day were to: • Develop a common understanding of what an EMS is, and how it relates to individual businesses. • Develop a common understanding of what a regional EMS is, and how that relates to their

businesses. • Identify the environmental issues faced by each industry, and what the common issues were; • Develop a common understanding of what an environmental policy is, what a regional

environmental policy is; • Develop a regional environmental policy that will act as an overarching statement that businesses

can use to develop their own environmental policy for their businesses;

12

• Write and agree to a regional environmental policy or position statement. The project officer gave a presentation defining what an EMS is, what a regional EMS is and how it is relevant to the Yarra Valley. Growers were asked to identify their pressing environmental concerns. The top three were common across industries - urban-rural fringe issues (noise, spraydrift and their impact on neighbours), water availability and quality and chemical use. Examples of environmental policies sourced from national and international companies were discussed in the context of a regional environmental position statement, industry groups and individual businesses. Words and concepts that the group felt should be included were listed (Appendix 4). These were incorporated by Jane Fisher and Kym Mallamaci into the following statement: “Primary producers in the Yarra Valley are committed to working with the community to achieve environmental and economic sustainability and in doing so, improve business competitiveness and the natural environment. To do this, primary producers and industries, will: − ensure understanding and compliance with relevant environmental legislation − include environmental management as a priority in industry strategic plans − identify, promote and adopt environmental best practice on farm − identify future environmental research and extension needs − promote a process of continual improvement on farm − establish and review industry environmental targets More specifically, the (insert industry name) industry, will achieve this by…….. In my farm business, I will achieve this by…….”

The draft environmental position statement was circulated to the appropriate industry groups for endorsement. Concern was expressed about what endorsing the statement would mean for the industry. It was regarded as a statement of aspirations. It was endorsed by the Shire of Yarra Ranges, the Yarra Valley Winegrape Growers Association, the dairy industry, the Vegetable Growers Association, the Strawberry Grower’s Association, and the Nursery Growers Association of Victoria. Feedback is still awaited from the rubus growers, and the gerbera growers. The next phase of the environmental position statement process was for industries, and then businesses, to develop their own environmental position statements.

13

Development of BMP’s using participatory processes To gain maximum outcomes from this project it was partnered with development of “Regional Environmental Best Practices for Viticulture”, funded by the Department of Primary Industries through its Naturally Victorian funding initiative. The best practices were developed in association with Naturally Victorian project staff at DPI Irymple and then workshopped with Yarra Valley winegrape growers. The definition of Best Practice used in this project was: Best Practice is doing what is acknowledged to be best practice, to achieve the outcomes of highest productivity with least cost and fewest inputs. Environmental Best Practice for viticulture in the Yarra Valley is using current scientific and experiential knowledge of growing grapes in the Yarra Valley to achieve the stated goals of grape production (tonnage and quality) while minimizing the impact of these activities on the environment in accordance with acknowledged best practice and legislative requirements to maintain economic viability and social sustainability and biodiversity. The best practices were developed using participatory processes. All Yarra Valley grape growers were invited to the first two meetings on the Best Practices covering irrigation/ water management and pest and disease management. The meetings were designed to improve growers’ understanding of EMS, as well as to discuss the BMP’s. Growers who participated regularly, and who had made a commitment to the process at the first workshop found the irregular attendance by people on topic specific issues disruptive (pest and disease management raised a great deal of interest in people who hadn’t previously been involved in the process) and asked that the group be kept to the those who were able to make a commitment. Attendance fluctuated between three and fifteen, as the vagaries of weather, vineyard demands and family allowed. The people who maintained a commitment to the process developed very strong ownership of the documentation, and actively sought out information that would make it relevant to the Yarra Valley. The meeting roster was established at the first meeting, however, it was flexible to fit in with participants’ commitments. It was decided that it was more important to have a quorum than to stick to a rigid meeting schedule. The process followed was to send the BMP under consideration out to participants before the meeting – preferably a week before. A process was followed in which the participants agreed to the objectives, and the outcomes of the BMP, followed by detailed reading, comment and discussion of the text. The process was facilitated by Jane Fisher, with occasional assistance from other DPI staff (Robert Sward, Vanessa Hood and David Shearer). The dynamics of the group changed markedly over time. The group developed a trust relationship, and there was robust discussion about practices, such as what was best practice and how to improve it. This was invaluable in making the information relevant to the participants needs. The discussion process took a year to complete, and then a further nine months to develop to a publishable standard. The final drafts were sent back to the Yarra Valley Winegrape Grower Association for endorsement.

14

The people involved in developing the best management practices were: • Phillip Lobley, de Bortoli • Chris Messerle, Yarra Glen Vineyards • Robin Male, Evelyn County Estate • Maris Feldgen, Emperors Prize Vineyard • John Poulton, Fergusons • Ryan Johnstone, Warramate • Ray Guerin, BRL Hardy • Mike Brocksopp, Tarrawarra • Hugh Hull, Berringer Blass • Jim White, North Ridge Estate • Daniel Dujic, de Bortoli • Anthony Brain, Shantell Vineyard • Linda Gilson, WesFarmers Dalgety A set of Legal Obligations relating to environmental management were developed by Tony Smith (DPI Sunraysia) and were also workshopped with the growers.

15

Yarra Valley Self-Assessment Questionnaire Tool What is a self-assessment tool? An environmental self-assessment tool is a series of questions that address the known environmental risks associated with particular issues. Two types of environmental self-assessment tools are being used in the market place. One is a risk assessment tool developed by the CRCV the second is a self-assessment approach developed concurrently in the US, Canada and the UK. The objective of both is to enable growers to identify the risks that their current practice poses to the environment, and to identify what changes need to be made, who is to make them and when they will be made by in order of priority. The CRCV’s Viticulture Environmental Risk Assessment Tool has the acronym of VERA. Based on ISO 14001, it uses an impacts and aspects approach, which requires the farmer to identify how current practice affects the environment and how severe these risks to the environment are (Boland and Baker, 2003). The risk assessment approach relies on access to experts, or self-directed learning. This system has merit, particularly for the wine grape industry on which this program was centred. The self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) approach as a tool does more of the thinking for the farmer. The structure is based around a question, followed by a series of answers graded from best to worst practice. The grower chooses which answer best fits his or her situation. The concept derived from work done in the United States by the Farm*A*Syst Program, and the Ontario Farm Plan (Canada). A similar approach is used by the LEAF program in the United Kingdom, which was the basis of a self-assessment questionnaire developed in Tasmania (Bond and Fisher, 1997). This approach has also been used by McFarlane and Trewick (2002) in their Environmental Best Management Practice on Farms tool, which has been widely adopted by broad-acre farmers in south-west Victoria. McFarlane and Trewick developed a catchment scorecard, which enabled growers and industries to be benchmarked against one another. The benchmarking process identifies which practices pose high risk to the environment enabling growers to make appropriate changes, and industry development officers to identify gaps in science and extension programs. The VERA tool had great appeal for use in this project. It was already developed for the viticulture industry, which was the central industry in this program. One of its main disadvantages however was that it didn’t address catchment outcomes. A workshop was held in December 2002 at which both the VERA approach and the SAQ approach were trialled. The audience was made up of representatives from large companies’ (3), from small vineyards (3), from another industry (1) and from DPI (3). The Chemical Management section of both the VERA and Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) tools were trialed with growers, and assessed against the following criteria (Table 3): • Do the growers understand the concepts behind the tool? • Will it be easily used without project officer support? • What level of knowledge is required to answer a question? • Does it address catchment outcomes? • Is it compliant with industry requirements? The VERA tool was trialled first. The sheets were handed out, an explanation was given of the concept and terms used, and the growers filled out the sheet. The same approach was used with the SAQ. The group found the SAQ approach easier to use. The clearly documented risks associated with management practices and prompts in the answer sections were easier to follow and understand. The risk assessment approach of the VERA tool confused this audience, as it required detailed

16

understanding of the risks associated with particular activities. Only one member of the audience had this level of knowledge. Table 3: Yarra Valley Growers’ assessment of two EMS Self-Assessment tools VERA SAQ Do the growers understand the concepts behind the tool?

Not well Yes

Will it be easily used without project officer or consultant support? What level of knowledge is required to answer a question?

Not by the test audience

Yes

Does it address catchment outcomes?

No Yes

Is it compliant with industry requirements?

Yes Yes

It was decided that the SAQ was more appropriate for the needs of this project. This conclusion was derived from the workshop as outlined above, and also from the project officer participating in a VERA workshop run by David Baker, through discussion with the consultant using the VERA tool with the Goulburn Valley and Nagambie groups, and from discussions with Geoff McFarlane. The SAQ addressed catchment outcomes, was easy to use and did not require as much assistance as the VERA tool. It has been the experience of McFarlane and Trewick (Geoff McFarlane, per comm.) that some growers prefer to fill out the SAQ on their own, while some prefer to have interaction with others to guide the process. This was also the experience of the Farm*A*Syst Program (Gary Jackson, per comm.). The disadvantages of the SAQ are that it only addresses the listed issues, and may not identify all environmental problems associated with each practice. At the time the decision was made to use the self-assessment approach, the SAQ was being widely used by catchment management authorities across Victoria, so using this approach had the added advantage that it would enable comparisons about environmental management and farm practice to be made between catchments. Developing the SAQ for the Yarra Valley The tool uses adult learning principles, and encourages participants to identify what changes they need to make, when they are going to be made, and who is responsible for making them. This principle has been well tested in agricultural industries in North America and Canada, and has shown significant adoption of best practice amongst participants. The SAQ was matched with the Regional Environmental Best Practices (BMP’s) for Viticulture in the Yarra Valley. Development began after the BMP’s were completed, so that the questions were matched with the order in which information was presented. Largely based on the McFarlane and Trewick SAQ for South-West Victoria, the Yarra Valley SAQ was developed and trialed with 18 wine grape growers. The SAQ process was trialed in both one-to-one situations and in groups of varying sizes. The group process was particularly beneficial as it allowed growers to discuss their experiences with different management practices and, on more than one occasion, persuaded reluctant growers to try a new, more environmentally sound management practice. Current on-farm practices have been benchmarked across the catchment using the self-assessment tool. Unfortunately as the development phase of the project necessitated a longer timeframe than expected, the full implementation of the tools have not been completed. The challenge is to relate on farm practice to catchment outcomes. While BMP and SAQ indicators are broadly matched to catchment indicators, farmers are limited in their ability to measure indicators to such a detailed level, especially in the areas related to nutrient and pesticide impacts. The limits to on-farm

17

measurement of nutrient and pesticide impacts include the cost of making the measurements, and the time it takes to make them. Various techniques for reducing the cost of making these measurements and logging the data remotely are being explored. It is important to remember in this work that there is a time lag between making changes in farm management and recording changes in catchment indicators. A major outcome from the project is that discussions on possible collaboration have been held with the University of California’s micro-sensor technology group. This group have been developing micro-sensors that have the potential to be deployed on farm and to be used as a tool to measure change instantaneously, and to attribute any effect to an action taken on farm.

18

Discussion of Results The objectives were ambitious, and needed more than the three years allocated to the project for them to be met. The tools have been developed and trialed with growers, however, the timeframe was insufficient to measure the impact of the tools on environmental management in the Yarra Valley or to measure the catchment outcomes. The outcomes of the following objectives were: • Objective 1: Build on and link a range of existing initiatives: Landcare, Viticare, QA;

education and training programs; R&D; ICM and water quality (Yarracare, nutrients etc); biodiversity and vegetation strategies, marketing and export development; and regional and statutory planning.

The horticultural community of the Yarra Valley are not heavily involved in Landcare, and its activities have been largely confined to the urban-rural fringe, with emphasis on weed control and revegetation along degraded creeks. At the start of the project the strawberry and apple industries were the only ones to have many growers participate in QA programs. Quality assurance has not been widely adopted by horticultural industries in the Yarra Valley. As implementation of the regional EMS occurs in the Yarra Valley links to education and training programs, various CRCV projects, Landcare, and water quality and biodiversity projects will increase. The formation of the reference committee has also created and developed links between various industries and government sectors operating in the Yarra Valley. • Objective 2: Test the capacity of voluntary auditing and management systems (QA, BMP and

EMS) combined with integrated catchment management (ICM) to achieve environmental, productivity and marketing objectives.

The various agricultural industries operating in the Yarra Valley have been benchmarked as to where they are currently positioned along the EMS pathway. A comparison of two existing self-assessment tools was made to determine the best method for use in the Yarra Valley. The level of detail needed and support available for effective use of the VERA tool was higher than the current capability of the Yarra Valley growers. The growers deemed the SAQ approach a better process because of the layout, prompts and ability of the tool to be used independently. Tools to enable growers to self-audit and manage their environmental impacts were developed and trialed during the project. • Objective 3: Develop a model for credible regional certification systems that can enhance

regional identity and recognition in domestic and export markets The Yarra Valley EMS has been included in the Code of Practice for the Yarra Valley Brand (Appendix 5). Businesses in the Yarra Valley can earn the right to use the Yarra Valley Brand by satisfying a range of criteria. Agribusiness applicants are required as part of eligibility for the Yarra Valley Brand to complete an EMS self-assessment. • Objective 4: Assess and refine existing industry specific QA, BMP's and EMS and link these

to wider strategies and targets. Elements of various QA, BMP and EMS systems were incorporated into the Yarra Valley BMP’s. These include:

• VERA • Code of Environmental Best Management Practice – Sunraysia Region • Environmental Best Management Practice on Farms • Freshcare (strawberries) • ChickenCare • EnviroVeg • YV Fruits manual • Integrated Fruit Production guidelines • CRCV Research to Practice series • Farm*A*Syst program (US)

19

• Ontario Farm Plan (Canada) • LEAF (UK)

The BMP’s and SAQ were developed to relate to the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority Regional Catchment Strategy (PPWPCMA, 1997) and the Yarra Catchment Action Plan (Port Phillip Catchment and Land Protection Board, 1999) outcomes. • Objective 5: Develop industry based QA, BMP or EMS protocols for linking individual farms

to a wider EMS, regional environmental targets or catchment management strategies. The Yarra Valley wine grape industry has been used as a pilot to test the EMS tools developed in this program. 18 growers (of a total 150 growers in the region) have participated in the initial stages of developing an EMS for their vineyards. The EMS tools are linked to catchment management strategies. The Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee (GVWIDC) has provided an opportunity to take the learnings from the Yarra Valley region to other Victorian wine growing regions by funding a series of four workshops to be held by August 2004. • Objective 6: Establish a Yarra Valley EMS planning and management group to develop and

implement an EMS in a transparent and accountable fashion to meet industry, community and government requirements.

The project reference group was established in November 2000 and met three to four times per year over the life of the project. Members were drawn from each of the main industries (viticulture, apple and strawberry) and from the Centre for Agribusiness, the Department of Sustainability and Environment; the Environment Protection Agency, and the local water authority, Melbourne Water. A grower steering committee was also formed to participate in direction setting and content of the viticulture BMP’s. Managing the expectations of the reference group required more attention than previously thought. The expectations of the group members were high and wide ranging. It would have been a valuable exercise to have used participatory process to establish what the different expectations of the group members were, both as a part of the process of group formation, and to do a reality check on the expectations. The group did work well together however and were keen to continue to be involved in the Yarra Valley EMS and have assisted in identifying projects for future work. • Objective 7: Trial a model process that can be used as a national prototype for developing

regional EMS. The model developed for development of a regional EMS consisted of the following steps: • Stakeholder engagement – across horticultural and agricultural industries in the Yarra Valley, at a

local, regional and national level; • Deciding which EMS structure to follow of the several processes available; • Development of tools for use in the process: regional environmental best practices and a regional

self-assessment questionnaire; • Development and delivery of training workshops; • Implementation of tools, development and implementation of action plans by individual growers. • Objective 8: Improve understanding of the opportunities, and barriers to linking enterprise

and regional EMS. The opportunities and barriers to linking enterprise and regional EMS have been divided into social, economic and environmental issues. Both successes and barriers are discussed, and where possible solutions have been suggested. Social

The participatory process used with the winegrape industry, coupled with a growing industry awareness that addressing environmental issues is important in retaining and improving the international market share for the Australian product, resulted in strong industry interest and ownership of the process and the products developed over the life of the project. This was shown

20

by the attendance at the meetings, and interest in filling out the self-assessment questionnaire, with twenty people participating in the first SAQ trialing workshop. It has also been extended further with two implementation projects being funded through grower associations (Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association and GVWIDC). One barrier to participation in the process was the cynicism amongst Yarra Valley horticulturists about government. At the Environmental Position Statement Meeting (October 2002) one of those present questioned why she was participating:

“This is just like the YarraCare project all over again. We put in hours of time on that project, and then the funding ended, the staff moved on and we were left with nothing.”

There was general agreement with her sentiments from others in the room, many of whom were experienced contributors to community based activities initiated by government. A vast amount of the project officers time and energy was spent in developing trust relationships with different industry bodies, and with key industry stakeholders. The time allocated for developing trust and bringing people and industries along the EMS path was underestimated in the project development. Recommendation: That consideration be given to the extensive amount of time needed to bring people along the EMS path in any future projects.

Economic The Yarra Valley EMS has been included in the Code of Practice for the Yarra Valley Brand (Appendix 5). Businesses in the Yarra Valley can earn the right to use the Yarra Valley Brand by satisfying a range of criteria. Agribusiness applicants are required as part of eligibility for the Yarra Valley Brand to complete an EMS self-assessment. Recommendation: that an evaluation of the efficacy of the Yarra Valley brand be undertaken in two years time, to investigate if: • linking the project tools with the brand improves adoption of tools; • producers who have adopted the brand receive an improved market share by

participating in the project or receive better prices for their product in the market place.

Environmental

It became clear through the project that measuring catchment change and linking it to change in farm practice would be difficult with current monitoring technology. Micro-sensing technology has become available through the University of California which will enable systems to be developed for on farm and in-catchment monitoring by the landholder of nutrient, pesticide movement through soils and waterways. Recommendation: that funding be sourced to establish a pilot project for micro-sensing monitoring of the catchment by farmers and scientists. There has been significant co-investment in the project from the winegrape industry, with the Greater Victorian Wine Industry Development Committee funding four workshops on EMS across Greater Victoria based on the project, and developing a project to benchmark environmental best practice within the industry and across greater Victoria based on the tools developed in the project.

• Objective 9: Document the lessons of the process so that the model of a regional EMS can be

transferred to other regions and industries. The processes of developing a regional EMS have been outlined elsewhere in this report. Some of the learnings from the project include:

21

• Don’t underestimate the scepticism and caution of industry due to previous experience with other systems such as QA.

• Managing expectations of all stakeholders in a regional EMS is a complex and time consuming process.

• The participatory processes used developed ownership, enthusiasm and advocacy by the participants and most importantly, resulted in actions being taken.

• There is potential for confusion with language used in the EMS community. There are processes within processes and terminology and scope need to be carefully defined.

• Participants need to understand that EMS doesn’t provide a ‘recipe’ for environmental management and providing specific materials for specific industries isn’t simple, as supporting material often isn’t as developed as could be expected.

• Pitching materials at the right level is a challenge. Care needs to be taken that information and processes aren’t too difficult and onerous but avoid making it too simple so that no value is attributed to it.

22

Implications: Assessment of the impact of the outcomes on industry in Australia What difference did the project make: Raised awareness of environmental issues amongst participants; strong ownership and endorsement of tools by the winegrape industry, raised awareness of the need to demonstrate environmental credentials in the market place amongst all horticultural industries in the Yarra Valley. What are the intermediate users opinions of the project (who are they?) As evidenced by the funding obtained by the YVWGA the project has provided the wine grape growers with the tools to assess their vineyard’s environmental impacts and they have demonstrated ongoing support and participation in the project. What lessons were learned about both the project and the evaluation? The project achieved many successes. Ongoing adoption of the system relies on government support for implementation, until each industry develops the level of ownership seen by the winegrape industry. The project should be regarded as a development phase in which tools were successfully developed and piloted with growers. These tools and the approaches are a model for the other horticultural industries in the Yarra Valley. The project was under-resourced for the task, and successful implementation of the tools across a number of catchments would require considerably more person power.

23

Appendix 1: Guidelines for Reference Group Operation Terms of Reference for the Conduct of the Yarra Valley Environmental Project Reference Committee. The Yarra Valley Environmental Project is the generic project name given to two independently funded projects with a combined set of outcomes ie. Increasing Adoption of Environmental Best Practice in Horticulture. A Naturally Victorian Project Initiative funded by Agriculture Division with NRE. Integrating QA, EMS, and ICM in the Yarra Valley – a Case Study. A Rural Industries Research Development Corporation (RIRDC.). Whereas: It is acknowledged that the project descriptions have established the outcomes of the combined projects (outcomes listed over page) A committee of no more than fifteen (15) people with agency and community interests will be established for the three-year project duration. Committee representation will be based on “skills” deemed appropriate for the conduct of the project. The committee will have the following Terms of Reference: • To be major link to horticultural industries in the Yarra Valley as identified in project outcomes. • To act as an information exchange of links to various related projects and initiatives. • Based on information supplied by Project Officer and community to act as a reference group for the

conduct of the project. ie refining project conduct when required. • To assist where appropriate in development of a project communications strategy, and to relay

information on project outcomes to the community in general. • To meet in consideration of the above on a quarterly frequency or as appropriate. Contact with Project Officer will be through the project steering committee. Project officer will report to NRE Project Leaders.

24

Appendix 2: Outcomes of the CRCV - NRE meeting Meeting for NRE Environmental Best Practice Program (Naturally Victorian and RIRDC) and

CRCV Program 5.2 (Environmental Management Systems)

Thursday 21st March 2002 Tullamarine Motor Inn, Mickelham Rd, Attwood

Present: Sue McConnell, Tony Smith, Adam Wightwick, Jane Fisher, Robert Sward, Gayle Grieger, Anne-Maree Boland Minutes: Jane Fisher/Anne-Maree Boland Sue McConnell, Gayle Greiger and Jane Fisher each gave brief overviews of their projects Sue - Development of Regional Environmental Best Practice for Viticulture - Sunraysia and Yarra Valley Gayle - Development of national environmental best practice protocols for viticulture Jane - Development of a regional environmental management system for horticulture in the Yarra Valley Action: It was agreed to match document structure between the two projects using the following terms: National (CRCV) Regional (NRE) BMP Proctocols = Code of Practice Risk Assessment (VERA) EMS principles Checklist - Practice level into which is built rigour and science with training (awareness)

= Self Assessment including implementation tool, checklist, planning include BMP’s, Indicators

Match purpose: Business (Economic) Environmental Social

A good example are the Phylloxera Protocols • Companies • State Funders Need to check on these as a possible standard

Regional environmental best practices link to Catchment targets.

It was agreed that the following terminology would be used when discussing the projects: DNRE - Regional Environmental Best Practices for Viticulture CRCV - Environmental Best Practice Protocols for the wine grape industry The words Environmental Best Practice will be common to documentation from both projects which will ensure that the projects are recognised by industry as using the same approach and being linked.

25

The Purpose of the projects was discussed: Purpose of the National approach Purpose of the Regional approach Economic (Business) Environment Community

Triple Bottom Line

National Framework Regional Implementation Industry • Associations • Corporates • Grower Groups

Groups Individual Growers (as part of a group - eg Yarra Valley Winegrape Growers Association)

Rules for Sharing of Information 1. Establish the boundaries for the group - who is in it? It was agreed that Sue McConnell, Tony Smith, Adam Wightwick, Jane Fisher, Robert Sward, Gayle Grieger, Anne-Maree Boland, David Baker, new IDL are part of the CRCV-NRE group 2. Recognition / Acknowledgement • Acknowledgements of who is responsible for developing the information at the start of each section

(work books, best practice documents, VERA Tool etc). • Future Issue - to be discussed again when appropriate 3. Document Control - Each copy must have in the footer: Draft, Date, Author Initials, Version Unfortunately it is not possible to have electronic protection. NRE system will soon require automated documentation Possible to include copyright statement (as with VERA tool) although this does not carry a lot of weight. 4. Release timetable • CRCV has specific timelines • NRE has June as the finish date for the codes of practice Legislation was discussed. Tony made the following points: 1. National legislation has no context unless related to State legislation, and it is probably not useful

to release as a separate document. 2. It was thought that the relationships between state legislation and federal legislation in Victoria can

be used as a model for what to look for (legislative issues that relate to viticulture) and where to find it in other states and regions (eg Water Acts, Environmental Protection Acts, local councils).

3. It was suggested that a checklist of legal issues that need to be addressed can be developed by Tony

for use in other states. The question of how to address regional issues remains to be answered, and the CRCV will explore further.

4. In terms of documentation it was thought that regional assessment should be about three pages, and

state assessment about 5 pages. DNRE needs to work out how to

• transfer legislation to other regions. • document processes - should be done by current DNRE project. The level of

detail was raised as an issue that needs more consideration. The development of a process and checklist needs to be developed further by DNRE. 5. Perhaps a new project needs to be developed to work out how to apply this project to other regions.

26

Environmental Management

Title of

Document Document

contains

Strategy

Policy National Objectives

Viticulture Code (Vineyards)

CRCV

Winery Code SAWBIA

Bridging document,

containing more detail than the

strategy - stratgeies and actions

Statement of intent and purpose

National EMS Framework*

National Protocols

Policy areas and

issues Technical

environmental information

Regional

Practices Policy areas and

issues Regionally adapted

technical information

*How does the self assessment checklist / questionnaire fit in the framework? ** Endorsement process for different types of risk assessments to make sure they fit under National EMS framework.

27

Document Structure

National (CRCV) Regional (DNRE)

Introduction - how to apply

to a regional situation

Environmental Objectives Regional Environmental

Objectives

Body of text:

Aspect*

eg Irrigation

=

Range of impacts - eg waterlogging,

offsite contamination

= Environmental Impacts (Issues)

***Best Practice/Impact: Should this be

“Environmental Best Practice

Protocolsfor the wine grape industry”?

What to measure and how to measure

it.

= Performance Indicators/Measurements

***Information (How to) ? Should this be

“Regional Environmental Best Practice” eg Regional Environmental Best Practices

for Viticulture in the Yarra Valley?

Legislation

References = References

*Aspects is an ambiguous term and needs to be translated *** See agreement on page 1.

28

Appendix 3: Papers written from the project

Presented at the Second National Wine Industry Environment Conference & Exhibition

Adelaide, South Australia

25-26 November 2002 Regional Environmental Management in the Yarra Valley

Jane R. Fisher1, Robert Sward, Murray McIntyre

1Department of Natural Resources and Environment,

Private Bag 15, Ferntree Gully Delivery Centre, Victoria 3156

Phone: 03 9210 9222 Fax 03 9800 3521 Email: Jane.Fisher@nre.vic.gov.au

ABSTRACT

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) have jointly funded a project to develop a regional Environmental Management System (EMS) for horticulture in the Yarra Valley. The project is a national pilot for regional environmental management. An EMS is a generic term used to describe any systematic approach used by an enterprise or organisation to manage its impacts on the environment (NRMSCDP, 2001) Public concerns that chemicals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen, are polluting the Yarra River and ultimately Port Phillip Bay, and urban rural fringe conflict with traditional farming practices makes the Yarra Valley an ideal place to pilot the concept of a regional EMS. Government concerns about declining biodiversity and other catchment wide issues will also be addressed through the project. The project aims to investigate methodologies and tools for developing and adopting EMS and their impact on adoption of EMS at three levels: by individual businesses, by industries, and regionally. The paper will report on horticulturists’ attitudes to the environment, the process being used to develop regional environmental best practices (the science behind the system), a catchment approach to environmental management, and self-assessment tools being

29

developed for industry. Differences between the winegrape industry attitudes and approaches to environmental management, and that of the apple and strawberry industries in the Yarra Valley will also be discussed.

INTRODUCTION The Yarra Valley is a major rural centre on an urban fringe, and has issues in common with similar areas close to all capital cities and large regional centres, particularly intensification of agriculture to ensure high returns on expensive land. With horticultural and agricultural production worth $650 million (ABS, 2001), the Yarra Valley is ideal for addressing the natural resource management issues of: • Urban-rural fringe conflict • Biodiversity • Water quality and availability • Soil loss • Pesticide use • Landscape amenity

A national pilot in regional EMS, co-funded by RIRDC and the State Government of Victoria through the Naturally Victorian Initiative, began in the Yarra Valley in May 2001, and was an outcome from a series of seminars on Environmental Management in Horticulture (Fisher et al, 2000). This whole of region approach involves the nursery, flower, winegrape, strawberry, apple, rubus, vegetable, grazing, pork, poultry and dairy industries to ensure industry endorsement of catchment outcomes. What is an EMS? An EMS is a generic term used to describe any systematic approach used by an enterprise or organisation to manage its impacts on the environment (NRMSCDP, 2001) What is a regional EMS? Developing a regional EMS means getting stakeholders to develop and endorse a regional environmental policy that is used by industries and individual businesses when they apply the principles of EMS to their businesses. Phase 1: Developing a regional EMS In order that business incorporate regional environmental policy into their own EMS’s they must have confidence in the process and outcome of that regional policy. The importance of winning the trust and confidence of various stakeholder groups in developing a regional EMS cannot be underestimated, nor can the time it takes to do this. The first twelve months of the project were spent raising awareness of EMS, describing what it means to businesses and the catchment, and allaying suspicion and fear about the process. When the project began, meetings were held with all stakeholder groups and the concept of EMS explained to them. Reactions varied from: • interest, enthusiasm and endorsement of the process (eg the apple industry, some sections of the

grape industry); • polite disinterest (“we don’t have any environmental problems” - some sections of the grape

industry and “we are happy with what we have got”– the strawberry industry); • suspicion and hostility (some sections of the grape industry – “this sort of thing creates more

problems than it solves” and “the costs involved will put the small grapegrower out of business”).

30

There is now a more general acceptance of the concept and processes involved in EMS, as exemplified by sixteen farmers and industry representatives participating in developing a regional environmental position statement (REPS). The process used to develop the REPS was to reinforce existing knowledge of what an EMS is, define “regional EMS” and how it can assist businesses improve environmental management, tease out the issues confronting each of the representative industries, and to ask participants if they wanted to develop an environmental position statement which would act as an overarching policy for the agriculture in the region. Following general agreement to develop a REPS, the group nominated words and concepts that they wished to be included in the statement. These were organised into a short statement, which is in the process of being endorsed by industry. Participants in this process commented “I know what an EMS is now”. Yarra Valley Winegrape Growers Association, and the YV Fruits group have formally endorsed development of the regional EMS. The Regional Environmental Position Statement

Figure 1: How the REPS relates to industries and farm businesses. The regional environmental position statement defines the environmental management aspirations of the industries within the region. The REPS is structured, to identify in sequence:

• What the region aspires to • What industries within the region aspire to • What individual businesses aspire to

with respect to environmental management. When this statement has been endorsed by the participating industries, it will be the foundation for the regional environmental management system. The regional environmental management system will be the sum of all the farm businesses that use the regional environmental management position statement as the basis for their farm EMS. The next phase of the project is to work with industries and businesses to develop industry and farm specific environmental policies, using the REPS as the basis. In parallel with this work, environmental best practices and self assessment tools, conforming with entry level two and three tools (Baker and Boland, 2000) are being developed for the different participating industries (Table 1) to enable businesses to evaluate their existing environmental management against best practice, using a simple, step wise approach.

Strawberry Industry

Winegrape Industry

Apple and Tree Fruit Industry

Dairy Industry

Regional Environmental Position Statement

31

Regional Environmental Best Practices have been developed for the wine-grape industry, based on work done in Sunraysia, and tested for local relevance using participatory processes to develop ownership of the document.

Entry Point Level 2

Level 2 Level 3 Level 6 (ISO 1400)

Industry BMP Self Assessment Tool

Auditable

EMS

Grapes Apples Strawberries Vegetable Dairy Poultry ? Pork ?

Table 1: The tools and stages available to industries in the Yarra Valley, November 2002

Phase 2: Developing and implementing tools Phase 2 is the development of a Yarra Valley specific self-assessment tool, modelled on the self assessment tools developed by McFarlane and Trewick (2001) for broadacre and grazing industries, based on the Ontario Farm Plan. Catchment management authorities within Victoria, as well as in Queensland and New South Wales have adopted the self-assessment tool. Using this established framework will enable farmers with more than one enterprise in their farm business to minimise paperwork. The tool will address issues common to every Yarra Valley farm, like the farm plan, and have separate sections that are enterprise specific. For example, soil management for perennial crops like grapevines is quite different to that required for strawberries. The tool uses adult learning principles, (Kolb, 1984) and encourages participants to identify what changes they need to make, when they are going to be made, and who is responsible for making them. These 'adult learning' principles have been well tested in agricultural industries in North America and Canada, and have shown significant adoption of best practice amongst participants (Rudy, 2001). Relating on farm practices to the catchment On farm practices will be benchmarked across the catchment using the self-assessment tool. Relating change in on farm practice to catchment outcomes has a number of challenges: cost, time, and relating point source data to a regional outcome. Various techniques for reducing the cost of making these measurements and logging the data remotely are being explored. An important consideration is the time lag between making changes in farm management and recording changes in catchment indicators. CONCLUSION Enthusiasm for a regional approach to environmental management within the Yarra Valley has grown amongst the farming community. The project is based on land manager’s aspirations and needs to achieve natural resource management and business outcomes. Networks and discussion process have been established and will continue to be used for the duration of the project.

A model for regional EMS implementation in predominantly horticultural catchments with appropriate training materials has been developed. Ongoing implementation and management of the regional EMS requires ongoing leadership from government for NRM and public good outcomes until the system is established when market forces will enable it to stand alone. Issues that will be explored in the seven months remaining for the project include:

32

• Piloting on farm implementation of self-audited EMS with grower champions in each industry; • The potential for linking the regional EMS process to regional branding.

Ongoing funding is being sought to explore other issues, including • Widespread adoption of the project by up to 20% of growers in participating industries • Evaluating the impact of on farm adoption of BMP’s on catchment outcomes using state of the art

monitoring tools; • Researching market drivers for adoption of EMS – eg urban-rural fringe tensions, and regional

branding; • Developing the system to be self-sustaining. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Reference Committee: Kym Mallamaci (DNRE), Anne Langworthy, Swinburne University, Jason Alexandra, (consultant), Sussanah Finger (EPA), Alan Crouch (DNRE), Ian Ada, Damien de Castella, Terry Burgi (YV Fruits). EMS Providers: Cameron Gourley (Dairy, DNRE); David Baker, CRCV, YV Fruits Group. Regional Wine Grape Best Practice Working Group: Phillip Lobley, (de Bortoli), Chris Messerle, (Yarra Glen Vineyards) Robyn Male, (Evelyn County Estate); Maris Feldgen, (Emperors Prize Vineyard); John Poulton, (Fergusons) Ryan Johnstone, (Warramate); Ray Guerin, (BRL Hardy); Mike Brocksopp, (Tarrawarra); Hugh Hull, (Berringer Blass); Jim White, (North Ridge Estate); Daniel Dujic, (de Bortoli); Anthony Brain, (Shantell Vineyard); Linda Gilson, (WesFarmers Dalgety); Regional Environmental Position Statement Development Group: Sam Violi (CAB) and Johnathon Jenkins (Strawberry Industry); Trish Moore and Gerald Brinson (Flower Industry); John Osmelak (Flowers Victoria); Graham McGregor, Karen Meuwissen and Lorraine Chapman (Rubus Industry); Damien de Castella and Chris Messerle (Wine Grape Industry), Jim Sawyer (Dairy Industry), Richelle Bunbury (Vegetable Growers Association), Kevin Saunders (Apple Industry); Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges, Centre for Agribusiness); Leo Koelewyn (Nursery Industry). REFERENCES Baker D. and Boland (2001) Framework for a Wine and Grape Approach to Environmental Management. Cooperative Centre for Viticulture, Discussion Paper, February, 2001. Fisher, J.R., Hall, C and Merriman P. (2000) Environmental Management: A Challenge for Horticulture. Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Fisher, J.R (2001). Proceedings of the YarraValley Wine Industry Environmental Management Planning Workshop. November, 2001. Kolb D. (1984) Experiential Learning; Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentic4-Hall, New Jersey, USA McFarlane G. and Trewick K. (2001) Environmental Best Management Practice on Farms. Workbook 1 – Farm Self Assessment Sheets. Department of Natural Resources and Environment. McFarlane G and Trewick K (2001) Environmental Best Management Practice on Farms. Workbook 2 – Action Planning Sheets. Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

33

Natural Resource Management Standing Committee Discussion Paper (2001) Towards a National Framework for the Development of Environmental Management Systems in Agriculture, A public paper prepared for discussion by the Environmental Management Systems Working Group. AFFA.

Rudy, H (2001) Ontario on-farm story. How to get people involved. National Conference on Environmental Management Systems, in Agriculture, Ballina, November 2001.

34

Appendix 4: Industry focus group questionnaire

Environmental Code of Best Practice for Viticulture

INDUSTRY FOCUS GROUP SURVEY May 2001

Funding has been given by the State Govenrment of Victoria and RIRDC to develop an EMS across horticultural industries in the Yarra Vallely. The first stage of the process is to work out what interest there is in the viticultural community, and what knowledge there is of EMS, and what people in viticulture perceive the major environmental issues are. It will also help identify who is interested in being part of the process. An EMS is a formal plan for conducting all of your activities in a manner that seeks to minimise any negative impact upon environmental quality & where feasible, maximise any positive impacts. Background Information How long have you worked in the viticultural industry? What is your education background? What regions you have worked in? What varieties do you grow? Are you a member of any viticultural group? How long have you been a member? Please tick the most appropriate answer(s) A. Property details (if applicable) Which type of grapes do you produce? Wine grapes 2. What is the size of your property? 1. < 10 acres

2. 10-20 acres 3. 21-50 acres 4. 51-100 acres

5. >100 acres

35

3. What type of property? 1. Corporate 2. Family business 3. Other (please specify) B. Environmental issues/awareness 11. On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate the public’s perception of the environmental performance of the Yarra Valley winegrape industry?? Poor Excellent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12. In what area do you believe they have the greatest concern?? Comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 4. How important do you consider the following environmental issues to viticulture? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as not important and 5 as very important.

Not Important Very Important Environmental Issues 1 2 3 4 5

Urban/rural conflict Waste Erosion Soil health Noise pollution Spray drift Preservation of native flora & fauna Consumption of water resources Rising water tables Ground & river water contamination

Salinity Greenhouse gas emissions Fossil fuel depletion Other (please specify)

36

5. Australian viticultural industries have a “clean & green” image. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 for the different viticultural industries, with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 as strongly agree. Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 Wine grape industry Table grape industry Dried grape industry 6. How aware do you think the viticultural industries are about environmental best practices? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 for the different viticultural industries, with 1 as not aware and 5 as very aware. Not Aware Very

Aware 1 2 3 4 5 Wine grape industry 7. When making vineyard decisions, what consideration do you give to the environmental impacts, which may be caused by the following operations? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as low and 5 as high. Low High 1 2 3 4 5 Irrigation Pest & disease management

Harvesting Nutrition Vineyard development Vineyard floor management (soil management & weed control)

Waste management Frost control Purchasing of products Other (please specify)

Any further comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

37

C. Research 8. What areas of environmental research are most lacking with respect to viticulture? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as poor (most lacking) and 5 as good ( not lacking). Poor Not lacking 1 2 3 4 5 Urban/rural conflict Waste Erosion Soil health Noise pollution Spray drift Preservation of native flora & fauna

Consumption of water resources Rising water tables Ground & river water contamination

Salinity Greenhouse gas emissions Fossil fuel depletion Other (please specify) 9. Who do you think should fund this type of research? 1. Not at all 2. Joint

funding 3. Complete funding

Industry Government Water authorities Chemical companies Other (please specify)

10. Should the viticultural industries be funding more environmental projects? 1. Yes 2. No Don’t know Wine grape industry

38

11. Who do you think are the beneficiaries of environmental research with respect to viticulture? Beneficiaries Not at all Minor

beneficiaries Major beneficiaries

Viticultural industries Community Other irrigated industries

Dryland industries Other (please specify)

Any further comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ D. Barriers to adoption: What do you think are some of the reasons why people may not / don’t /adopt environmental best practice? 12. What are some of the barriers to adoption of environmental best practices? Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as insurmountable barrier and 5 as no barrier. Huge Barrier No

Barrier 1 2 3 4 5 Lack of knowledge Cost Lack of interest Resistance to change No incentives Lack of industry support No access to information/advice

Other (please specify)

13. What is needed to increase growers’ adoption of environmental best practices? 1. Not needed 2. Some

need 3. Necessary

More information More research Industry requirement Incentives Publicity Regulations Extension Other (please specify)

39

14. Are you aware of training for environmental best practices in the following areas? 1.

Yes 2. No

If Yes, what training?

Irrigation Pest & disease management Harvesting Nutrition Vineyard development Vineyard floor management (soil management & weed control)

Waste management Frost control Purchasing of products Other (please specify)

Any further comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ E. Code of Environmental Best Practice 15. How should a code of best practice be adopted by industry? Voluntary (no enforcement) Regulated by government Enforced by industry Requirement of customer (eg wineries, packing sheds, agents)

Other (please specify)

40

16. How useful do you believe a code of best practice would be? 1. Not useful at all

2. Slightly useful

3. Useful 4. Very useful 5. Crucial

Any further comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ F. Marketing 17. Are you aware of customers asking for evidence of environmental best practice? Yes 2. No If yes, please specify: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 18. Do you believe that customer requirements for environmental best practices will increase in the future? Not at all Probably Definitely Any further comments: ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

41

Appendix 5: Environmental Position Statement Report

Yarra Valley Environmental Position Statement

Draft statement prepared by Jane Fisher and Kym Mallamaci following feedback from industry meeting held on 17th October, 2002

Industries / individuals in attendance: Sam Violi (CAB) and Johnathon Jenkins (Strawberry Industry), Trish Moore and Gerald Brinson (Flower Industry), John Osmelak (Flowers Victoria), Graham McGregor, Karen Meuwissen and Lorraine Chapman (Rubus Industry), Damien de Castella and Chris Messerle (Wine Grape Industry), Jim Sawyer (Dairy Industry), Richelle Bunbury (Vegetable Growers Association), Kevin Saunders (Apple Industry), Ian Ada (Shire of Yarra Ranges, Centre for Agribusiness), Leo Koelewyn (Nursery Industry). As agreed at the meeting on the 17th, we have developed the environmental position statement based on your comments, which are in the attached document. Please take the statement to your industry for endorsement, and have comments back to Jane Fisher by the 2nd December. Contact details: DNRE, Private Bag 15, Ferntree Gully Mail Centre Vic 3156 Ph (03) 9210 9243 Fax (03) 9800 3521 email: Jane.Fisher@nre.vic.gov.au Funding was given by RIRDC to develop a regional environmental management system. An Environmental Management System is a formal management plan for conducting all business activities in a manner which aims to minimise negative impacts upon environmental quality, and where feasible, attempts to maximise any positive impacts. It is a process based tool for building environmental considerations into the day-to-day conduct of business and is based on the principle of continuous improvement - Plan, Do, Check and Review. The policy or position statement is fundamental to the process. Draft statement based on comments: “Primary producers in the Yarra Valley are committed to working with the community to achieve environmental and economic sustainability and in doing so, improve business competitiveness and the natural environment. To do this, primary producers and industries, will: - ensure understanding and compliance with relevant environmental legislation - include environmental management as a priority in industry strategic plans - identify, promote and adopt environmental best practice on farm - identify future environmental research and extension needs - promote a process of continual improvement on farm - establish and review industry environmental targets More specifically, the (insert industry name) industry, will achieve this by…….. In my farm business, I will achieve this by…….”

42

The area covered by this statement is defined by the geographic indicators for the winegrape industry, which is shown in the map below.

Background Meeting Notes Process to get endorsement of the environmental position statement

Where to next? • Circulate • Group endorsement • Communication with broader industry for endorsement Questions asked: • What environmental issues / trends is your industry concerned about? • How is / has / will/ would like to your industry respond (ed) • Industry vision, research, activities, actions. Environmental Position Statement: Thoughts that growers came up with: • Short concise statement • Credible, believable, meaningful • Must imply industries desire to improve environmental performance • Context project: Send to executive Primary producers in the Yarra Valley Region will commit to: • Sustainable development • Identify and manage • Economic • Will be working together with employees, neighbours, environment

43

We will do this by…. • Responsibility to environment while maintaining profitability • Environmental performance • Committed to principle of • Remaining competitive • Recognizes responsibilities to the environment • Profitable/profitability – national, regional/globally competitive • Economic • Continuous improvement • Strive • Endeavour • Rewarded • Economically sustainable through use of natural resources Refer to BRL Hardy, sustaining success (Grape)

44

Indu

stry

C

omm

on

Issu

es

Win

e /

Gra

pe

Flow

ers

Nur

sery

R

ubus

St

raw

berr

ies

Orc

hard

Fru

it D

airy

V

eget

able

s

• U

rban

rura

l fr

inge

1

2

2

• W

ater

/dam

s 2

Qua

ntify

ing

size

of

recy

clin

g da

m

1

1

• C

hem

ical

s 3

3

3

•

Publ

ic

perc

eptio

n 3

3

3

•Sus

tain

abili

ty

3

3

3

Wat

er Q

ualit

y

Issues

•

Lack

of

com

mun

icat

ion

(fra

gmen

tatio

n of

in

dust

ry)

• D

ispo

sal o

f pla

stic

Fu

ture

? –

Stric

ter

legi

slat

ion

re:

runo

ff, p

estic

ides

re

sidu

es in

flow

ers,

unre

alis

tic

regu

latio

ns.

Envi

ronm

enta

l w

eeds

.

• Pr

omot

ion

of

indu

stry

to p

ublic

– 4 •

Som

e fr

agm

enta

tion

&

lack

of

com

mun

icat

ion.

• C

rop

cove

rs

• B

iodi

vers

ity –

pl

uses

: (w

ind,

shad

e an

d sh

elte

r) a

nd

nega

tives

(pes

t and

di

seas

e ha

rbor

) •

Adh

oc n

atur

e of

R

&D

net

wor

ks.

• IF

P an

d B

est •

Pr

actic

e B

ette

r Org

anis

atio

n of

hor

t ind

ustri

es

Eate

r and

dam

s /

wat

er u

se

effic

ienc

y– 1

U

rban

/ ru

ral f

ringe

is

sues

- 2

Che

mic

al u

se a

nd

publ

ic p

erce

ptio

n –

3

• C

hem

ical

s •

Ferti

liser

s •

Vis

ual i

mpa

ct o

f ho

rt st

ruct

ures

•

Bird

s and

bat

s •

How

doe

s im

prov

ed

biod

iver

sity

impa

ct

on th

e fa

rm?

• Tr

end

is to

get

bi

gger

but

in Y

V

whe

re la

nd is

lim

ited/

expe

nsiv

e,

oper

atio

ns a

re g

ettin

g m

ore

inte

nsiv

e.

• Ef

fluen

t - 3

00

cow

s = to

wn

of

30,0

00 p

eopl

e •

Ferti

liser

– P

and

N

•

Urb

an ru

ral f

ringe

, ru

ral f

ringe

wrt

chem

ical

use

and

po

tent

ial f

or

resi

dues

. •

Wat

er q

ualit

y

• W

ater

qua

lity

– N

, P

and

susp

ende

d se

dim

ents

. •

Rur

al u

rban

in

terf

ace.

•

Use

of r

ecla

imed

w

ater

in W

errib

ee

and

Cra

nbou

rne

– SQ

F im

pact

s?

.

45

R

espo

nse

W

ine

/ Gra

pe

Flow

ers

Nur

sery

R

ubus

St

raw

berr

ies

Orc

hard

Fru

it D

airy

V

eget

able

s

Past

• R

eact

ive

esp.

to

U/R

frin

ge is

sues

an

d da

ms

• En

v. g

uide

lines

de

taili

ng le

gal

requ

irem

ents

– “

get

in fi

rst”

• Le

vy,

prom

otio

n,

NIA

CA

– n

atio

nal

accr

edita

tion

sche

me

• IF

P

• IF

P

• D

iscu

ssio

n gr

oups

ev

ery

6 w

eeks

. •

Targ

et 1

0 ex

tens

ion

prog

ram

th

at ru

ns c

ours

es o

n so

ils a

nd fe

rtilis

er,

efflu

ent

man

agem

ent,

past

ure

man

agem

ent

etc.

• R

eact

ive.

G

row

ers a

sked

V

GA

to c

ome

up

with

an

env.

pr

ogra

m to

de

mon

stra

te

proa

ctiv

e ap

proa

ches

.

Present

• Le

gisl

atio

n •

Invi

tatio

n on

ly to

op

en d

ay a

t Yar

ra

Rid

ge

• EM

S st

atem

ent

• B

est p

ract

ice

guid

elin

es

• Se

lf as

sess

men

t of

best

pra

ctic

e

• Sm

all g

roup

fo

rmed

to fo

cus o

n IP

M –

now

sp

ecifi

cally

for

gerb

era

grow

ers

cove

ring

broa

der

rang

e of

topi

cs

• Su

cces

s sto

ries

prom

oted

thro

ugh

indu

strie

s m

agaz

ines

• ID

O to

soon

be

appo

inte

d •

Bet

ter p

ract

ice

guid

elin

es o

n so

il w

ater

and

nut

rient

m

anag

emen

t •

Dem

o si

tes

• Fa

rm w

alks

•

Stra

tegi

c in

dust

ry

plan

that

reco

gnis

es

the

env.

(cle

an

gree

n pe

rcep

tion

and

prod

uce)

G

ood

new

s sto

ries

• Fo

od sa

fety

–

man

date

d to

so.

• Eu

repg

ap –

with

in

12 m

onth

s - O

HS

EMS

soci

al –

re

gion

al re

leva

nt in

12

mon

ths.

• Y

V fr

uits

–

regu

lar m

eetin

gs,

spea

kers

com

e to

te

ach

grow

ers

• 2

out o

f 8 fa

rms

have

QA

– li

nked

to

getti

ng a

dai

ry

licen

se.

• St

atew

ide

dairy

EM

S pr

ogra

m.

• En

viro

-Veg

pr

ogra

m w

ith se

lf-as

sess

men

t and

B

MPs

.

Future

• U

pdat

e ne

ighb

ours

of

bes

t pra

ctic

e.

• Se

lf-as

sess

men

t lin

ked

to n

atio

nal

prog

ram

.

• H

ow to

mee

t leg

al

requ

irem

ents

in

form

atio

n fo

r gr

ower

s

• Po

tent

ial t

o us

e ID

Os a

cros

s in

dust

ries t

o co

nnec

tiven

ess.

• E

xpan

d N

IAC

A

to in

clud

e en

v.

man

agem

ent.

• P

rom

ote

to

grow

ers a

nd p

ublic

.

• B

est p

ract

ice

• Ef

ficie

nt w

ater

us

e,

• m

inim

um

chem

ical

use

, •

biod

iver

sity

, •

IFP

• Se

lf-as

sess

men

t?

• O

vers

eas

•man

agem

ent t

rend

s •

A su

stai

nabl

e in

dust

ry

• 3rd

par

ty a

udits

–

tryin

g to

get

IFP

inco

rpor

ated

into

SQ

F au

dits

.

• St

atew

ide

dairy

nu

trien

t “ta

sk fo

rce”

un

der d

evel

opm

ent

(aim

is to

look

at a

ll th

e to

ols a

vaila

ble

to im

prov

e nu

trien

t m

anag

emen

t –

incl

udin

g en

forc

emen

t - a

nd

co-o

rdin

ate

effo

rt be

twee

n th

e di

ary

indu

stry

, NR

E, E

PA

and

coun

cils

to

impr

ove

the

perf

orm

ance

of t

he

dairy

indu

stry

.

• En

viro

-Veg

a

natio

nal p

rogr

am.

46

W

ine

/ Gra

pe

Flow

ers

Nur

sery

R

ubus

St

raw

berr

ies

Orc

hard

Fru

it D

airy

V

eget

able

s

Wish List

• Su

ppor

t “R

ight

to

Farm

” at

the

regi

onal

leve

l.

• G

reat

er

com

mun

icat

ion

betw

een

grow

ers i

n di

ffer

ent i

ndus

tries

to

lear

n ab

out

com

mon

issu

es

(irrig

atio

n,

pest

icid

es)

• Ed

ucat

ion

of

com

mun

ity –

po

sitiv

e st

orie

s G

reen

loan

s with

lo

w in

tere

st ra

tes

(Shi

re sh

ould

inve

st

in b

anks

with

such

lo

ans)

•

Opp

ortu

nity

for

grea

ter n

etw

ork

of

vege

tatio

n co

rrid

ors.

• O

ptio

ns fo

r cro

p co

vers

(dec

oy

crop

s)

• B

iolo

gica

l con

trol

of p

ests

.

Notes

•

65-7

0% o

f tot

al

Aus

tralia

n ru

bus

grow

ers f

ound

in

the

Yar

ra V

alle

y re

gion

•

$20,

000

spen

t on

cons

ulta

nts t

o de

al

with

env

. iss

ues.

• In

dust

ry h

as tr

ied

to p

ick

up a

ll en

v.

issu

es k

now

ing

that

on

e im

pact

s on

anot

her.

• 8

dairy

farm

ers –

2

smal

l, 2

“cor

pora

te”

– H

aini

ng fa

rm a

nd

Cau

lfiel

d gr

amm

ar,

4 “n

orm

al”.

47

Supportive of “Living together in rural Victoria. Would be interested to hear from growers – “What role can the Shire play to help get adoption of best practice?” – rate rebates, development trade offs. Shire, with its current involvement in CAB, is happy to adopt what CAB endorses. Messages: • Potential for an IDO network with NRE, EPA and water authority involvement. • Need to clarify who will own and maintain the EMS effort once funding ends. Regional Environmental Position Statement • Statement needs to be transferable across the state – giving it greater credibility (public

perception) • Clarify area of coverage

48

Appendix 5: Yarra Valley Brand Code of Practice

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

References AFFA (2002) Australia’s National Framework for Environmental Management Systems in Agriculture.Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council. October 2002 Allen, W.J., Bosch, O.J.H., and Gibson, R.G. (1995) Farmers and scientists working together to achieve more sustainable land management. Conference paper presented at the 1995 North American Farming Systems Research-Extension Symposium: Linkages among Farming Systems and Communities. Ames, Iowa, 5-8 November AS/NZS ISO 14001 (1996) Environmental management systems – Specification with guidance for use. AS/NZS ISO 14004 (1996) Environmental management systems – General guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques. Baker, D. and Boland A-M (2000). Proving the Industry is Green: EMS a possible solution? Paper presented at the first National Wine Industry Environment Conference, Adelaide 31 Oct – 1 Nov 00. Boland, A-M and Baker, D. (2003) VERA: A practical introduction to EMS for Australian Agriculture . Proceedings 3rd National Conference on Environmental Management Systems in Agriculture, Barossa Valley, South Australia, November 2003. Bond, Elizabeth and Fisher Jane (1997) Sustainable management Practices: A Self-Assessment Questionnaire for all Farmers and Land Managers. Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, Tasmania. CAB (2003) Centre for Agriculture and Business. <http://www.agribusiness-yarravalley.com/index.html> Cary, J., Barr, N., Aslin, H., Webb, T. & Kelson, Shannon (2001) Human and Social Aspects of Capacity to Change to Sustainable Management Practices, combined report for the National Land and Water Resources Audit Theme 6 Projects 6.2.2 and 6.3.4, Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra, ACT and Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne, Victoria. DNRE (1999) Yarra Catchment Action Plan. Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Box Hill Victoria. DNRE (2001)Incorporating Biodiversity into Environmental Management Systems Fisher, Jane, Hall, Christina, Merriman, Peter (eds) (2000) Environmental Management: A Challenge for Horticulture. A report of Environmental Management Systems Seminars for Horticultural Industries, 1999. Agriculture victoria – Knoxfiled, Institute for Horticultural Development. Heisswolf, Susanne, Lindsay, Stewart, Bagshaw, John and Vock, Noel (2003) New experiences in working with horticultural farmers to improve NRM practices in Queensland. In "Extending extension: Beyond traditional boundaries, methods and ways of thinking!" Proceedings of the 2003 APEN National Forum, 26 - 28 November 2003, Hobart. Web site www.regional.org.au/au/apen McFarlane, G, and Trewick, K (2002). Environmental Best Management Practice on Farms – Workbooks 1 and 2. Department of Natural Resources & Environment, Geelong, Victoria.

61

Pannell, DJ (2001) Explaining non-adoption of practices to prevent dryland salinity in Western Australia: Implications for policy. In ‘Land degradation’. (Ed. A Conacher) Kluwer: Dordrecht. pp 335-346. PPWPCMA (1997) Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority Regional Catchment Strategy. Port Phillip Regional Catchment and Land Protection Board, Frankston Australia. Van de Fliert (2003) ‘Beyond higher yields: The impact of sweetpotato integrated crop management and farmer field schools in Indonesia’. In Keith O. Fuglie (Editor). 2003. Progress in Potato and Sweetpotato Research in Indonesia. Proceedings of the CIP-Indonesia Research Review Workshop, held in Bogor, Indonesia. March 26-27, 2002. International Potato Center (CIP), Bogor, Indonesia. 242 pages.