by Robyn Garvey
Local farmers are encouraged to consider participating in an OMAFRA (Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs) pilot project. The goal is to improve productivity and cut costs.
Lean Process Improvements have been a dominant methodology in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries for years, successfully helping to identify forms of waste, increase productivity and efficiency as well to conduct process mapping.
OMAFRA is now taking these same principals and applying them to various sectors of agriculture including: vegetable production, livestock production and management, and farm organization.
OMAFRA’s goal says Environmental Specialist Jacqui Empson Laporte is to teach farmers and commodity groups how to implement these Lean strategies for their own operations.
Empson Laporte says there are many benefits to the using Lean method exercise including increased productivity, finding financial savings and protecting the environment.
She encourages farmers and those in the agricultural sector interested in learning more to contact their OMAFRA office.
Empson Laporte says her team of environmental specialists are eager to help those interested in applying the lean methodology to their farm and agricultural businesses.
Best of this is a free, she says there is no fee for this service.
She says the team of OMAFRA environmental specialists are able to provide a fresh set of eyes and perspective and through a lean audit identify ways to cut costs, improve efficiency and be environmentally friendlier.
Empson Laporte says often it is the small things that can make the biggest difference in finding efficiencies and savings.
As part of the Lean audit, OMAFRA also provide a risk management assessment, helping to identify the biggest risk to the farmers or agricultural sector business operation with strategize on how to best mitigate that risk.