While many Ontario farmers were taking advantage of prime planting season last month, Statistics Canada released the first round of data from the 2011 Census of Agriculture.
It provides data about Canadian agriculture, and puts interesting context around the changing face of Ontario’s sector and its place at the national level.
The census revealed that Ontario’s total farmed area continues to drop. Farmers here now comprise less than 8% of the total farmed area in Canada.
But even with such a small fraction of the country’s land in production, Ontario has nearly 25% of the forecasted total farm market receipts for crop and livestock sales for 2012, at nearly $11.4 billion.
That speaks to the highly productive nature of Ontario farmers, their diversification and innovation. We continue to manage more production with fewer resources, and that is a something to be proud of.
But the reduction in overall farmed land is troubling.
Ontario’s total farmed area decreased 4.8% between 2006 and 2011 to 12.7 million acres. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has been working to address that loss at the national level, through the development of the National Food Strategy.
The strategy is a vision for the future of food in Canada, and it was developed by partners in the agriculture and agri-food sector through counterparts at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Among the priorities identified in the strategy, is the importance of conserving and improving soil, water and arable land for future generations.
Farmland taken out of production – for development, aggregates extraction or other reasons – will not be returned to agriculture. That is a significant loss to the province and the country.
Ontario agriculture is changing in other ways too. For the first time, the most recent census reveals how long-term changes to Ontario’s livestock sectors fundamentally affect the agricultural landscape.
With declining numbers of pigs and beef cattle, the area dedicated to growing crops traditionally used for feed such as hay is decreasing in favour of more profitable cash crops.
But Ontario farmers’ productivity and the move toward other sources of farm income have also inspired a trend the OFA hopes will continue: fewer Ontario farmers have off-farm jobs.
Fewer than 48% of farm operators reported having an off-farm job or business, compared to nearly 50% in 2005. The OFA is optimistic that the trend will continue, returning farming to its rightful status as a viable “profession” in Ontario.
The OFA continues to work on lobbying municipal, provincial and federal governments for regulations and farm policies that make sense.
In the changing face of Canadian agriculture and Ontario’s role within it, OFA’s mission remains constant: to enable prosperous and sustainable farms now, and for future generations.
Mark Wales is president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
