Letters to the Editor
Losing farmland every day
March 12, 2026 · 1 Comments
Dear Editor:
Given the rising cost of food and Ontario’s commitment to increase our population, one would think that preserving farmland would be a priority for our Conservative Government.
Alas, in a province where less than five per cent of the land is prime farmland, the most recent Census of Agriculture indicates that Ontario is losing over 300 acres of farmland per day! Roughly 450 farms every year!
Urban sprawl, aggregate extraction and infrastructure such as the Highway 413 development will make up much of that loss.
If the government were truly focused on Ontario’s economy, saving farmland would be among its top priorities.
A 2024 Ontario Federation of Agriculture report entitled “The Economic Impact of Farming in Ontario” indicates that farm sales contributed over $18 billion to Ontario’s economy and supported $50 billion in the food manufacturing sector. More than the auto sector contributes.
Beyond economics, eating away at this truly sustainable industry is an assault on rural Ontario. The irony here is that politically, the Conservative rural base is supporting a government that is engineering its decline.
Rob Strang
Orangeville
Readers Comments (1)
I agree with Rob that agriculture is an important but diminishing element of Ontario life. Ultimately, I suppose, all family farms will disappear and fields a mile wide will be usd by either factory farms or housing developments.
Prime agriculture should not be wasted on housing. New housing should be encouraged in northern Ontario by establishing better infrastucture – medical, educational, etc, amenities. Also, as has been done in the prairies, the highways should be twinned.