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economist suntribune agricultural affairs saturday feb 19 2000 planting a seed with the minister agriculture minister ernie hardeman listens as york region farmers share their concerns about the future joan ransberry the silence is over signed york regions farmers this message landed on ontario premier mike harris desk yester day morning delivered by ontario agriculture minister ernie hardeman farmers across the greater toronto area including york region are demanding the provincial government put legislation and landuse policies in place to protect dwin dling prime farm land and the farmers want the province to help them secure a fair return for their hard work the agricultural food industry has a broad reach said hardeman i recognize this and i hear the value ofit on thursday hardeman was given the grand tour of north ern york region accompanied by his colleague julia munro the york north tory mpp the agriculture minister lunched with a small group of farmers including officials from the local federation of agriculture the tour included a visit to a sutton- based dairy operation owned by farmer debbie johnson standing in the milking bay hardeman and munro welcomed 15 farmers mostly dairy the farmers reminded hardeman the dairy industry is ontarios largest agricul ture sector in 1976 the 363 dairy farmers in the gta produced 107 million litres of milk gross farm receipts totalled 677 million in the same year in one year the 7800 dairy farms in ontario sent 23 billion litres of milk worth 14 billion to market hardeman is no stranger to farming a resident of oxford county he operated an agricultural feed business before seeking political office and he knows gta dairy farmers contribute significantly to canadas worldclass reputation for producing top holstein and jersey cows for export in fact the gta is home to some of the top holstein herds in the world hardeman and his party left the dairy farm visited effem foods in newmarket and then stopped at a queensville vegetable farm owned by don chapman the farmers did much to ensure hardeman understood their plight we want a fair return on our invest ment stressed mount albert potato farmer john thompson if we cant compete were in serious trouble farming in the gta is indeed serious business taking in dairy beef horse pork sheep poultry grain fruit and vegetables and mixed products stats show there were 585 million in gross farm receipts in the gta in 1996 lh wgpm 9054152260 staff photosrob alary agriculture minister ernie hardeman left listens to speak ers with york north mpp julia munro land use planner margaret walton above warned landmust be protected holland marsh farmer carl wierenga below told the minister all farm ers want is a fair return on invest ment the farmers are not making pie-in-the- sky demands stressed holland marsh veg etable and flower grower carl wierenga all we want is a valid return for our investment said wierenga as long as we geta fair return for our input well be able to carry on doing what we do the farmers asked the agriculture minis ter to do the math stressing that the gta has lost a significant number of farms and farmland since 1976 in the past 20 years more than 2000 farms and more than 150000 farmland acres went out of production roughly 30 per cent of existing agricultural ventures our farmers want to be able to compete in todays market they want a level playing field in york region there are 1211 farms totalling 131647 acres york farmers pro duced close to 15 per cent more revenue on about 13 per cent fewer acres of land than did farmers in huron county critical foodproducing land is disap pearing and if the trend does not stop it will eventually threaten the availability and quality of our food the farmers including local federation president virginia mclaughlin told hardeman armed with the recently published gta agricultural economic impact study the farmers gave hardeman a real from-the- fieldtothefork lesson about york region while king township boasts the largest number of farms in york region today 314 in 1976 it had 515 that decline is reflected throughout the region east gwillimbury has 288 farms down 80 farms in the past 20 years whitchurch- stouffville is in third place with 201 down from 254 in 1976 vaughans farm inventory has gone from 247 to 139 in two decades richmond hill had 80 farms in 1976 while today there are only 34 markham has 107 farms down from 209 in 1976 aurora had 38 farms in 1976 today there are 24 georgina had 212 farms now there are 183 in a majority of the cases the prime farm land was lost to residential develop ment instead of food bungalows are now rooted in the land landuse restrictions are needed to make farming the most profitable use for it this is the challenge hardeman said and there are more challenges produce coming in from quebec the united states and other countries is having an impact on ontario farmers ability to make a profit government farm subsidies in many countries make it almost impossible for the canadian farmer to compete the financial plight especially in west ern canada compares to that of the dirty 30s meanwhile massive farm bankrupt cies are expected western grain growers are indeed in serious trouble said hardeman one of the saving graces in ontario is diversity ontarios agricultural community doesnt stick to one product which offers some builtin protection hardeman sug gested our farmers want to be able and willing to compete in todays market said hardeman they want a level playing field their main concern is they get a fair trade the farming community is now being i3s7506radu rebate available last 4 99s huge savings on these vehicles chrysler jeep 8280 woodbine ave markham south off hwy 7 west side 11999 plymouth gr voyager le dbuio 13100 kms 38 litre v6 auto trans rear air overhead console power seat windows locks mirrors rear quarter veits executive driven clean stk 99058 28988 bftssi noticed provincewide stressed hardeman people do notice the buyontario promo tion said hardeman what we all have to remember is that only 5 per cent of land in canada can pro duce food much of that is in the gta said com munity and land use planner margaret walton once the land is gone its gone walton said how much more can be lost before there is a big crumble the land base must be protected in order to feed the popula tion she said canada is recognized around the world as a leader in agriculture walton pointed out still the farmers ask when are canadians going to recognize it i choice is i yours purchase mflcates 1 999 durangoslt plus demo 1 3000 kms all the options at one low price heavy duty service skid plates abs 3rd row seat trailer tow anti spin full time transfer case 59 v8 leather seats pdr seat pw pl pm tilt cruise stk 99156 nofbbcht 716 lnoubwx 100 300 ft i save 1615 wjnhi v v