Think Toronto. Think agriculture.
While Canada’s largest city doesn’t quickly spring to mind as an agricultural centre, a recent economic analysis suggests otherwise.
“Agriculture in the greater Toronto area generates an estimated $1.3 billion in annual gross sales, representing an important contribution to the regional and provincial economy,” said a study conducted in 1999.
It was commissioned by the agriculture federations of four counties that include parts of Toronto’s sprawl. In 1999, there were 4,500 farms in these counties generating $585 million in direct farm sales. They also included direct and indirect jobs on the farm and in the transportation, handling and processing sectors.
Read Also
Land crash warning rejected
A technical analyst believes that Saskatchewan land values could be due for a correction, but land owners and FCC say supply/demand fundamentals drive land prices – not mathematical models
“All together, approximately 34,762 jobs are supported by farm operations, businesses that buy from and sell to, and services that support farmers and farm businesses,” the report said.
These farms are among the most productive in Canada, located on some of the country’s best soil and close to one of its most lucrative consumer markets.
“Overall, farms in the (greater Toronto area) have a higher productivity than farms in other parts of the country. Measured in terms of farmgate sales per acre, GTA farms have, on average, sales of $770 per acre compared to the provincial rate of $560 per acre.”
The surprising conclusions helped convince many Toronto area Liberal MPs to lobby last winter for a farm aid package.
But there is a problem behind the good news.
Toronto continues to grow and developers continue to gobble up those farm acres for housing.
The consultants reported that more than 2,000 farms disappeared and more than 150,000 acres of land were lost from farming between 1976 and 1996.
“Once taken out of production, the agricultural land in the GTA cannot be replaced,” they wrote.
“The GTA contains some of the best of a very limited supply of prime agricultural land in Canada. It is the unique combination of physiography, soil type and climate that contribute to the area’s agricultural potential.”
A drive through the counties that contain rural land within the GTA, particularly north of the downtown core, show a continuing boom in housing and large tracts of highly productive land in the queue for development.
But York County federation of agriculture president Carl Wierenga, who farms near the growing city of Newmarket, said the message is getting through.
He said that since the GTA agriculture report was prepared, municipal and provincial politicians have started to pay more attention to the lasting effect of taking land out of agriculture.
“It is my view that things are changing,” he said.
“But of course, I don’t know what future governments will do and I recognize that the pressure for growth in this area is tremendous. This is the fastest growing urban area in Canada, if not North America.”
He said “preservation of agriculture in this region” is now a factor that politicians consider when they receive development proposals. However, farmers and landowners in the GTA also face a dilemma. They are having a difficult time making a living from the land and a lucrative sale to a developer can be tempting.
