Preservation of Primary Agricultural Land for Farming Wayne Caldwell University of Guelph, Canada Municipal Association of Victoria Rural and Regional

Preservation of Primary Agricultural Land for Farming

Wayne CaldwellUniversity of Guelph, Canada

Municipal Association of VictoriaRural and Regional Planning Conference

Marysville, Victoria, AustraliaJune, 2015

Photo by Alison Caldwell

Issues that bind us in the need for a response:

Time

Impa

ct

Trend

A Critical Event that Changes the Trend Line

This should concern all of us…

Agricultural Uncertainty

Past Present Future

Climate Change

Water Use

Peak Oil

Climate change: • Impact on food security,

crop production, predicted yields, and the need for alternative crops.

Projected changes in agricultural productivity, Cline, W. R. 2007. Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates by Country. Washington

D.C., USA: Peterson Institute;

Nine issues that bind us in the need for a response…

Land degradation:• “reduction or loss of biological

productivity caused by poor agricultural and land stewardship”

• “inadequate water and soil management, veld management, salination due to over-irrigation, erosion, and reduction or loss of pollinator species”

(Caldwell, et al., 2011).

“Soil erosion is not a high priority among governments and farmers because it usually occurs so slowly

that its cumulative effects take decades to become apparent”

David Pimentel (Cornell University)www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/14/soil-

erosion-environment-review-vidal


Population growth: • More people • Dietary shifts from

cereals to meat• Less agricultural

employment.

June 4, 2015: 34.5 million more people so far this year

http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Nine issues that bind us in the need for a

response…

• Yields have increased.• In the developed world,

farms continue to grow in size and decrease in number.

• Use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers: produce more with fewer people.

• Genetically modified seedswww.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/

timeless/yieldtrends.html

Agricultural system change:• Agricultural technology has undergone significant changes.


Land use change: • Positive changes include

conservation development and the rehabilitation of abandoned sites, brown fields or aggregate pits.

• Negative changes include deforestation, unrestrained urbanization or mining and its related pollutants.


Land tenure:• To produce food, farmers

require secure access to land• Insecure land tenure impacts

farmers’ inability “to improve their farming practices”

• Urban agriculture• Land grabbing

Food security “depends on the land resources available to the

household or community and their ability to mobilize resources for the production and/or distribution of

food to achieve an active and healthy life” (Dione, et al., 2009)


that show agricultural lands provides a higher net return than residential, urban areas continue to expand.

• By 2020, developing countries will hold most of the world’s megacities, and by 2030, 81% of the world’s population will reside in urban areas. Much of this “unplanned and uncontrolled.” (Mohan, et al., 2011).

Urbanization• Urbanization is a constant challenge for agriculture.• In the developed world, cost-of-community-services studies



Fisheries • Fisheries as “the main source of animal protein for about

one billion people”.• Fisheries have been chronically mismanaged, and suffer

from environmental degradation, illegal and unregulated fishing, and the effects of climate change.

• Most fisheries in developing countries are a combination of subsistence and for-profit, with developing countries making up the majority of fishery exports.

(Bostock & Walmsley, 2009)

Farmland preservation:• Agricultural land required to sustain and

increase global food security. • Agriculture in competition with residential,

mining (aggregates, quarries, etc.)


True or False...

Trivia Question: Every year the planet loses an area the size of Scotland to erosion and urban sprawl…

True, and at the same time we add more than the increases by more than 80

million people (forecast 2015)

Thinking about our local context

What is your local context?My Local Context: Farmland in Ontario

• Only 0.5% of Canada’s land area is Class 1 farmland

• Over half of Canada’s class 1 farmland is in Southern Ontario

• All of Canada’s 2 best agri-climatic zones• 70-85% of land being urbanized is class 1

FOOD SECURITY AND PLANNING IN THE

COMMONWEALTH

www.commonwealth-planners.org/images/documents/food.pdf

A cross section of potential tools and strategies for agricultural planning in the Commonwealth.

Regulatory

Voluntary

Developed Developing

Urban Growth Boundaries

Policy Direction

Zoning

ConservationEasements

Financial Incentives

Community Education

EnhanceFarmland

Securing Land Tenure

Communal LandRelationships

Agricultural Aid

Caldwell and Lang (2014) www.commonwealth-planners.org

10 Strategic Directions for Commonwealth Planners

Planners across the Commonwealth are dealing with different situations, contexts, and challenges. Despite the many differences however, there are beneficial steps for planners in any situation.


Evaluate the agricultural resources in your jurisdiction.• What agricultural resources are present? • What are the strengths

and weaknesses of local agriculture?


Determine the role of agriculture in the local economy.

• How does agriculture contribute to the local economy? In what way does it contribute?


Evaluate the land tenure system.• Are farmers able to access the land they need? Can a

farmer be confident in making investments, improvements to the land, or developing new infrastructure?


Evaluate the status of farmland.• Is farmland being lost? If so, to what cause?


Open the lines of communication with the farm community and all levels of government.

• What does the farm community need? • What are current projects and priorities of other

levels of government?

• Who will address the needs of the farm community?


Determine which tools for working towards food security are most appropriate for the local political and social context.

• Which tools work best in your social andpolitical context?


Determine what resources are needed to support food security.

• What does your jurisdiction need to support food security?

• What are possible ways of attaining this?


Consider the issues, goals, objectives, and related policy of food security in the planning process.

• How do planning issues and the planning process fit into the food security goals, objectives, and policy of the jurisdiction?


Pull this information together, with the goals of the jurisdiction, to create an agricultural strategy.

• What does the jurisdiction want to see happen in relation to food security? • What steps are required to support this?


Work within the available resources to implement an agricultural strategy.

• How can the jurisdiction take the high-level goals and turn them into action?

Some specific examples of more detailed approaches:

• Agricultural Plans• Conservation Easement• Urban Growth Boundaries• National Food Documents • Supportive Agricultural Policies

Thanks…

Additional Background Material (next 6 slides)

See the full report for more detail: (for more detail)

Agricultural Plans

Description of Agricultural Plans• A description of the area• The current policy context and

framework• A description of agriculture in the area• Current issues and vision for

agriculture• Goals and actions to achieve the vision• Implementation and evaluation

Conservation Easement

Land owner decides to preserve the land.

Land owner approaches a conservation easement

organization.

Land is assessed and details of easement

restrictions are decided upon.

Land owner recieves some sort of compensation from organization for removing the development potential

from their land.

Easement is placed on the land where it remains in perpetuity (regardless of

ownership).

Organization enforces the easment; property ownership and care

remains with the land owner.

Urban Growth Boundaries

• a zoning based tool to delineate between urban and rural areas.

• seeks to contain, control, direct or phase growth to promote more compact, contiguous urban development”

National Food Documents

• Could be one of several strategies, such as a national food plan, a national food strategy, or a national food policy.

• How the country will grow, trade, distribute, and consume food in the future.

• Societal and government action through leadership and strategic guidance to “articulate the direction of food-related policies” (Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, 2013)

Supportive Agricultural Policies

• Policy to assist and encourage the success of the agri-food sector.

• Could relate to farmland preservation, farm diversification, value-added activities, financial support for farmers, land tenure policies, etc.

• Designed to support, encourage, and facilitate all types of agriculture and agricultural activities.

• Should be integrated into all policy arenas, including transportation, health, infrastructure etc.

Criteria to Evaluate Policy

Legal Issues Economic Issues

Province vs. Municipality

Province-wide vs. Regional

Public, Political & Farm Support

Other…

Timeframe

Benefit

Criteria to Evaluate policy