by Nash Alonto
Feb. 1, 2024
The P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture (P.E.I. FA) expressed its concern over the provincial government’s lack of a comprehensive land-use plan due to gradual loss of farmland during yesterday’s Standing Committee meeting.
Citing data from the recent census, P.E.I. FA Executive Director Donald Killorn said 12 per cent of farmland, or 14,000 acres per year, on the Island was lost due to the province’s unilateral mandate of increasing buffer zones, impacting the organization’s members’ ability to produce crops.
“There’s no reason to think that in the absence of a provincial land-use plan, that rate isn’t continuing, and that has implications on our ability to produce economic impact,” he said.
“It increases the cost of new entrance, which is a huge sustainability risk to our industry. And now, because of issues unrelated to agriculture…we have serious concerns that our land is gonna be targeted in sort of a sweeping change to coastal protection.”
Rustico-Emerald MLA Bradley Trivers said there is a flip side to it.
“When you have landowners who, maybe farmers, and they want to sell either a portion or all of the land, kind of to get the value out of the work they’ve done to own the land,” Trivers said.
“I know it’s a common business model as you, for example, you buy a dairy farm you work for a lifetime. You pay it off and then you sell it at the end, and that’s how you make your money.”
Killorn, however, said it’s more complex than that, and having a land-use plan is not outside the bounds of good planning.
“As a province, we need to properly calculate how much farmland we need. If you lose Wyman’s, and you lose Cavendish Farms, and you lose the Atlantic Beef Plant, there will be cascading economic effects,” he said.
“While the construction industry and real estate industry are huge economic drivers now, our ability to produce agricultural product in such quantities that we can process it here and ship value-added goods is a long-term economic strategy.”
New Haven-Rocky Point MLA Peter Bevan-Baker agreed with Killorn.
“Yes, we have been looking for and calling for a province-wide land-use plan for decades, and for a variety of reasons, it’s always been kicked down the road by various administrations,” Bevan-Baker said.
“We have, I think, for the first time ever, a very solid clear commitment from this government, and Minister (Rob) Lantz is the one in charge of the land department at the moment, that we will see province-wide land-use plan. I really, really hope that we will see that within the life of this government.”
O’Leary-Inverness MLA and committee chair Robert Henderson said there also needs to be process of compensation if farmers cannot sell a certain amount of land for any circumstance to get out of a financial situation.
“I look at many farmers the equity that they maintain is the key thing that allows them to continue farming. It’s usually based on their ability to borrow money as to buy machinery,”
P.E.I. FA President Keisha Rose Topic said the matter of compensation was discussed with members during their recent annual general meeting.
“There’s pressure put on farmers from many different perspectives, and, at some point, there has to be some form of outer. That always been the case, that was the final straw, that you could sell some land and get some money,” Topic said.
“There does need to be some form of compensation somewhere, where if you can’t sell, subdivide something into five different lots, then you can sell, but where’s that extra money gonna come from compared to if you did something about it. I’m not exactly sure how you can make that work, but I do think there needs to be that.”
Killorn suggested the 15-metre buffer zone be maintained, as it is proven to be effective when properly enforced.
“Our industry does not need (a) greater buffer to protect our wetlands and water courses, and our members are unequivocally against the expansion of the buffer zone on our properties. It’s an absolutely unnecessary regulatory taking,” he said.
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