From a small acreage for market gardening near Hastings to a 20-acre grazing pasture in Northumberland County, Farms at Work is hoping to keep farmland in production with the launch of a new online tool.
The Peterborough-based non-profit organization has launched findfarmland.ca, a free resource designed to improve access to agricultural land by helping farmers and landowners find each other.
“The most exciting thing is that by creating this simple bulletin board we could actually keep farmland in production that would otherwise sit idle,” Pat Learmonth, a member of the Peterborough Agricultural Roundtable, told kawarthaNOW.
Find Farmland is designed to make it easier for people to find available land and to encourage owners to keep it in production. The user-friendly, searchable website lists farmland available across the province. Anyone can search for land based on geography, facilities, and other characteristics.
The tool’s introduction is timely and has a critical role, Farms at Work said in a media release.
“As baby-boom farmers retire, more and more non-farmers are purchasing farms,” the organization noted. “Sometimes all or part of their good farmland is taken out of production, and that is not good for Ontario.”
In 15 years, from 2006 to 2021, there was a 12 per cent decline in land actively farmed in the province.
“We need all the farmland we have in order to feed Ontario and build local food security. Recent political upheaval, the pandemic and severe climate events have demonstrated clearly how supply chain disruptions can directly affect groceries shelves in Ontario.”
Farms at Work said new farmers can contribute to food security, but with prices skyrocketing, few can afford to purchase a farm and instead are looking for suitable farmland to rent.
Farms at Work wants farmland owners to visit the website, find out how easy it is to post a property, and share this opportunity with other landowners who may be looking to rent out all or part of their farmland.
“To feed our growing population, we must start with a sufficient supply of local, quality land that is accessible to farmers,” said Kelly Carmichael, Farms at Work board chair, in the media release.
“Protecting agricultural land and our capacity to feed ourselves is paramount. Farms at Work’s new tool puts us on the right path.”
Farms at Work’s mission is to keep healthy farmland in farming by providing space for hands-on learning, knowledge sharing and community building, as well as providing support for access to land. Learn more about Farms at Work at farmsatwork.ca.
