Farmer questions loss of agricultural land figures

Luke Edwards

Grant Haven Media

Are the rumours of the loss of farmland in Norfolk greatly exaggerated? A local farmer thinks so.

Presenting research he undertook over the course of several months, Frank Schonberger told Norfolk councillors at the Feb. 10 council-in-committee meeting that the perceived loss of farmland is actually the result of classification changes and an evolving nature of owner/rental relationships for active farmers. He’s using his research to suggest provincial legislation proposed in part by Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Bobbi Ann Brady that would ultimately create a Foodbelt Protection Plan is unnecessary.

In fact, Schonberger argues the legislation could cause more harm than good for farmers, but adding bureaucracy and red tape for farmers.

“A food belt designation will not solve any of the problems facing agriculture and may cause harm to rural communities that must continue to adapt to the challenges that have arisen from a more mechanized and globally focused agriculture sector,” Schonberger said.

“A measured amount of growth in rural Ontario is paramount for our communities to remain viable”

Schonberger argues development is not presenting a major threat to farmland loss in rural Ontario, and the statistic that Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland a day to urban development is a “false narrative.”

That narrative, he said, is the result of changes between the 2016 and 2020 StatsCan Census of Agriculture and how it relates to other data.

“There is no argument that some farmland is lost to development. However, what they’re presenting is a false narrative. There is a significant difference in reported farmland area between StatsCan and the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation data, which shows an increase in taxable farmland,” he said.

In Norfolk, Schonberger said much of the previously used farmland has been gobbled up by conservancy groups like the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the Long Point Basin Land Trust.

“On average, 200 to 300 acres per year is being permanently set aside for conservation in Norfolk. Much of this land is removed from the Stats Can Census on Agriculture,” he said.

Other factors his research found is the changing relationship between farmers and their farmland. There are several cases where farmland is owned by non-farmers - investors buy property or farmers retire but stay living on their land - who lease the fields back to farmers. In those cases, only the land used for crop production is included in the census, Schonberger said.

Schonberger said cannabis production was also left out of the 2021 Census on Agriculture.

“It is extremely important to note that acreage for the production of all crops have increased in Ontario and across Canada, according to StatsCan,” he said. 

Schonberger’s deputation to Norfolk County was his first public presentation of his research. Responding to a question from Coun. Michael Columbus, Schonberger encouraged councillors, if they found the research persuasive, to pass it on to other municipalities and provincial organizations like the Rural Ontario Municipal Association. He’s also recently sent letters regarding his research to Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Agriculture Trevor Jones and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack.

Mayor Amy Martin took interest in a portion of Schonberger’s presentation where he discussed tax breaks property owners can receive for various conservation efforts. He said NCC land is property tax exempt, and smaller property owners can also apply for a managed woodlot tax credit to reduce their taxes.

“So we’re not collecting property tax on it, which is a higher burden for residential property tax owners and we’re also not growing food on that land, but it’s still zoned agriculture,” she said.

Martin put forward a motion that was supported by her council colleagues that called for a staff report on the issue.

“Looking for a comprehensive document that’s going to outline the status of agricultural lands across Norfolk County that can touch on the loss vs. the gain of lands, it can touch on the tax ratio collection of those lands, and if staff have any comments on a food belt designation and what those impacts would be on Norfolk County in the future,” she said.