Ontario farmland is extremely productive, with the agriculture and food sector contributing more than $51 billion to the provincial GDP each year.
Last week, Farms at Work hosted an event featuring a variety of professionals in the agriculture sector to discuss trends and to encourage non-farm owners of agricultural land to optimize the role of their property in agricultural production.
Twenty participants joined the organizers in the banquet hall of the CMCC, with more attending virtually. More than half of the participants were female.
The topics included farm property tax support, farm insurance, preparing effective conservation and lease agreements and an introduction to provincial agriculture support networks. The presentation aligned with Farms at Work’s mission which is to support the growth of resilient, thriving farms across the region by providing education, encouraging farmland protection by facilitating access to land for farmers, and promoting farmland stewardship in eastern central Ontario.
The first presentation was delivered remotely by Steve Duff, Chief Economist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, who provided a detailed picture of the current state of agricultural production in the province. Unsurprisingly, he noted that population growth has put pressure on the amount of actively farmed land across the province. The exception to that general rule is the amount of land dedicated to crop production, which has remained relatively stable for almost a century. What has changed in local crop production is the volume of production, which has grown by 57% in the last 25 years alone thanks to productivity gains.
In November 2022, the provincial government released an ambitious 10-year plan to strengthen the agriculture and food industry to promote an efficient and reliable food supply but also to boost economic growth. The report indicates that food and agriculture supports one in nine jobs in Ontario and contributes $51.4 billion to the provincial economy. The 48,346 Ontario farms produce more than 200 different commodities.
Bringing the discussion closer to home, Duff reported that the 6,330 farms in East Central Ontario (ECO) generated more than $1.26 billion in farm revenue in 2021,with grains and oilseeds, dairy and cattle representing the top three commodities. This region encompasses more than1,155,773 acres of farmland in the Durham, Haliburton, Hastings, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Peterborough areas. Duff pointed out that each acre of land in crops in the region generates roughly $2,837 in GDP across the province. Ontario farmland is particularly productive. According to Stats Canada, Saskatchewan has the highest gross farm revenue of any province in 2021.Ontario production was not far behind, representing 97%of Saskatchewan’s production using only 20% of the land used by Saskatchewan. This difference reflects the production potential of the soil.
There are roughly 600,000 acres within the ECO that were once actively farmed but now are idle. This does not include marginal land that has never been farmed but has production potential but faces constraints. This idle land represents lost opportunities in agricultural production.
Duff went on to discuss the impact of climate change on farming in the province. Warmer temperatures, more and more variable precipitation is expected to change the growing season. The Climate Atlas of Ontario predicts that average temperatures will rise by one to two degrees Celsius in the next 50 years, with an additional 50mm of precipitation.
These factors will contribute to a longer growing season and expand the options for agricultural production.
The presentation concluded by encouraging landowners to bring their idle land back into production and explore emerging opportunities for new product opportunities. Despite relatively low land costs, very little idle land has been brought back into production in the region. Gains in agricultural productivity, broader commodity production options make farming more attractive. Adding more land to agricultural production contributes to the local economy, boosts food security and creates wealth for local farmers and landowners. Sounds like a pretty compelling argument.