Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

The CFFO Commentary: Creating New Options for Preserving our Top Farmland

By John Clement
August 26, 2011
 
Farmland preservation is a key component in keeping a strong and vigorous agricultural sector. And with Ontario having one of the biggest agriculture and food clusters in North America, it only makes sense that our citizens be proactive in ensuring that we do our best to preserve and maintain our best farmland.
 
The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario has a long history of advocating for farmland preservation. We’ve taken up the fight to keep our best farmland in a number of battles, including power line developments, highway proposals, land use planning sessions and arguments about municipal housing severances. We’ve been at the forefront of those saying that our best farmland needs to be preserved for farming, not held in trust until some other competing use comes along.  
 
With that background in mind, I was pleased to see this summer’s creation of the Ontario Farmland Stewardship Fund. It has been put together by the Ontario Farmland Trust in partnership with the Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation. It’s part of a larger campaign called “Care for the Land you Love” and is working to raise awareness and funds to maintain the lands under land trust care in the province.
 
The campaign allows financial donors to double the impact of their gifts as every dollar contributed by the end of 2011 will be matched up to a total of $20,000, thanks to the participation of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance and Community Foundations of Canada. The earnings from the funds will be used every year to help conduct annual monitoring, property and building maintenance, maintain regular contact with landowners and undertake environmental enhancement programs.
 
The Ontario Farmland Trust was established in 2004, and seeks to protect and preserve farmland and associated agricultural, natural and cultural features of the countryside. It protects farmland by working directly with landowners who want to permanently protect their farm properties for farming. This includes accepting donations of farmlands and farmland conservation easements. Easements allow landowners to continue owning and using their properties while placing some non-farm development restrictions on the land.
 
If you are interested in learning more about the Ontario Farmland Trust, visit www.ontariofarmlandtrust.ca. And please take the time to consider whether you’re interested in investigating a conservation easement for your property, or making a donation to the trust fund. Every bit helps in preserving an important resource for farming.

John Clement is the General Manager of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston. It is also archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,200 family farmers across Ontario.

Views: 106

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Horror movies filmed in rural Ontario

Rural Ontario provided the backdrop for multiple horror flicks

Downtown Diner event celebrates Canadian farmers and the food they produce

A special event took place this week to celebrate Canadian food and the farmers who make substantial contributions to our national food system.

Ontario Check-off Rate to Increase on November 1

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) has approved a $1.50 increase to the national portion of the mandatory provincial beef check-off fee, raising the total to $7.00 per head effective November 1, 2025.

Meals in the field and hats in combines: a look into end of harvest traditions

The end of harvest is a special, but stressful time in Saskatchewan. For farmers, it’s the busiest season of the year where a full spring and summer’s worth of work culminate in the final push to get the crop out of the field and into the bin before the snow starts to fly.

Saskatchewan delegation heads to Mexico to discuss trade

Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister will lead a mission to Mexico to strengthen trade, research and investment ties with some of the province’s long-standing Mexican partners.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service