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t 7 i- an4a36aftwtonesc for sfspecial veaitonaltonly sec o issiie kee for years a decade ago there rasjav vow that farrnianev would be untouchable today it is elgin mills that forms the development boundary grif fin and adler spoke to those affected most by urban growth the fanners they also exam ined whats happened in the past to areas like hagerman corners and if there are lessons to be learned markham was once famous for its farmland much of which is covered by concrete and front lawns today this supplement is not an indict ment of development griffin and adlers aim was to put a mirror up to the issues sur rounding agriculture and progre m0 1990sthey wanted to find out if indeed we are heading for a last harvest in markham adler griffin last harvest a suppleriient to the arkh t economist sun sept 27 1997 v publisher patricia pappas editorinchief andrew mair contributors mike adler kathleen griffin photography rdwitteveen j r v v v vv toisfitil t cover photographer terd wittevcen captured the 5 c i jdjatfarmer dusting his imagir going going gone markharns phenomenal growth is paving there may be none left to farm for more than 200 years some of canadas best farming land has supported markham and its residents but within a generation it could be gone urban sprawl is eating it up at a record rate within the next 15 years close to 50000 people will move to markham planners pre dict they will all need a place to live housing roads services they will live on what used to be the backbone of the community prime agricultural land the handwriting is on the wall howard burkholder 50 said in the office of the farm he leases at elgin mills rd east of ninth line urbanization is pushing us off farmland and development coexist in an increasingly uneasy relationship farming has changed in one century markham farm ers have gone from pouring whisky down an oxs throat to hooking cattle up to a computer genetically altered seed for crops hightech machinery artificial insemination and even corn driers have changed the way farmers do business thirty years ago the time to achieve corn maturity was much longer than it is today and it can grow much farther north said farmer glen brown even cabs on tractors and air conditioning were huge improvements you can work in the rain and you dont bake in the sun in the early part of this century almost everything was done by hand a farmworkers wage was 1 a day recalled russ reesor 89 a retired farmer on reesor rd funny too everyone then was content he said sitting on porch of the house his grandfather built in 1857 you aged well ate good and wholesome food and were as strong as a horse earlier the land was cleared with oxen reesors talkative uncle told him of a big pair he had seen whose owner poured whisky down their throats and boy did they pull artificial insemination has had a tremendous effect on cattle breed ing my dad had one bull for breed ing if that bull had bad legs too bad recalls brown that would multiply quickly through the gener ations todays farm animals have nutri tionists and are tracked on comput er to obtain maximum output they thrive on half the feed they used to get because its high octane the cows are producing more than twice as much as they did said barry little a steeles ave farmer who has perhaps the oldest jersey herd in canada while littles grandfather and his neighbours took turns hauling milk to locust hill in time for the morn ing train little has seen the busi ness go from a marketing agreement with one dairy to a marketing board quota system hightech machinery has also made the job easier but it doesnt come cheap a new tractor can cost 130000 and its getting harder to find help youd trust with such expensive equipment said little in the old days if you could han dle a pitchfork youd be set that sure has changed he said but will better technology be enough as farmers are forced to colder and poorer land farther north agriculture adapts very easi ly said howard burkholder you can always keep moving on there is more land but eventually you may run into a production problem larry schut of the ministry of agriculture food and rural affairs said he doesnt believe technology will make up for the lost land some people believe genetics will keep pace with the loss of land but im hot one of them despite advances we will always need some where to grow the crops he said little agrees i think ill live to see the day when theres a big shift in technology in food growing or a shortage of food he said markhams recent growth has been tremendous iri 1981 its pop- ulation was about 77000 now its roughly 180000 and by the year 2001 its projected to be close to 215000 land use change in markham is similar to many rapidly growing urban centres in ontario especial ly those in the golden horseshoe area said larry schut of the resources and planning branch of ontarios agriculture ministry schut said 90 per cent of markharns land is class 1 and 2 and it ranks among the best in canada it is being reduced at a signifi cant rate and its all expanding outwards into the best agricultural land in canada no ifs ands or buts schut said when its gone its gone never to be retrieved in our province theres no bank of agricultural land sitting waiting for us when we run out he said the quality of its land made the old markham township and its villages famous as an agricultural centre it brought theberczy set tlers pennsylvania dutch families and others who arrived later and markharns farmers say its pro ducing more than ever its sad to see how fast the land has gone and to see good land class 1 land the best in canada go to houses said arthur schickedanz a markham farmer the rural aspect of life here in markham is gone as far as im concerned were part of toronto jim baifdthv director of plan ning for the town of markham said the town has to manage devel opment in order to insure logical responsible growth we cant close our eyes to it he said we have to manage it you dont find an outward sprawl of growth in markham we try to contain it in the most logical way possible in the most appropriate locations in 1976 the towns offical plan had 16th ave as a firm northern boundary for development it last ed until 1993 when the town adopted official plan amendment no 5 it was approved by the region two years later before we adopted opa 5 we had a municipal housing strategy we conducted an urban land needs study for both employment and residential uses and we did the natural features study baird said these studies formed the background for opa 5 and had the effect of releasing additional land for future urbangrowth that turned out to be about 6000 acres of prime farm land surrounding markham and he pointed out while the lands are zoned residential the option to develop still belongs to the owners we control and regulate devel opment we try to design develop ment appropriately recognizing the growth of urban expansion b please see page 4 b farmers see the pnrl of tradition s urban sprawl continues its unchecked route north many of the generationsold markham farms are directly in its path and most of farmers arc tired of fighting it they know its ble they accept it they will continue as long as they can and then defeat made sweeter by the value of their land will leave inevitable the carrs have been fanning 150 acres on the east side of idnt ami have much of a choice her hr band al passed away five years ago after a heart attack their two boys br- and barry both live on the land but only brian has decided to become a farmer in the family tradition ruth was brought up on her fathers farm less than a mile south on the west side if jmdy i milked cows until i was 72 she said with just a touch of wellearned pride i grew up on a farm nobody needed to tell me how to milk a cow after alberts death ruth and brian ran thefarm essentially by vvv b please see page 4 is r glass -1- farmlaihd class 1 land is the best agricultural land in canada and markham is chockfull of it more than 90 per cent of land in markham is ranked class 1 or 2 the best for growing common field crops like hay oats wheat corn and barley class 1 means there are no limitations on the soil which would include things like steep slopes bedrock and poor drainage of course class 1 land is also the best for development for the very same reasons said ray valaitis rural planner for the ministry of agriculture food and rural affairs i in terms of sewers pipes and roads its much cheaper to build on the best land than it is to fix drainage problems and blast rock that costs developers a lot more money and valaitis confirms what the farmers already know the land in markham is very productive it is someof the best if not the best land in ontario indeed canada and it has been since the soil was created