Bradford Bypass (MTO, Hwy 400 - Hwy 404)

[Bojaxs]

The left wing is now opposing carbon taxes, so I assume they aren't going to be running on "fighting climate change". The protecting farm land from development platform is why some farm territory - particularly more marginal farmland - gets a lot of bleeding from the right, to the Greens.

Disappearance of Ontario-grown peaches? Is that a thing? I didn't see much in the stores this year - I just thought it was my bad timing. Peaches are the one fruit that it really needs to be fresh and local, or it tastes like crap. I only eat them when they are in-season locally - I didn't even get any this year!

I was simply using peaches as an example. I don't know what's the current state of Ontario peaches. I saw a fair amount at my local grocery this year.

I'm pretty sure the land around Beamsville is protected fruit land.

I'm the same. I pretty much only buy peaches when they're in season in Ontario. Definitely prefer them over the larger, yellow, more solid, U.S. peaches.

 

[just east of the creek]

I was simply using peaches as an example. I don't know what's the current state of Ontario peaches. I saw a fair amount at my local grocery this year.

I'm pretty sure the land around Beamsville is protected fruit land.

I'm the same. I pretty much only buy peaches when they're in season in Ontario. Definitely prefer them over the larger, yellow, more solid, U.S. peaches.

Perhaps peaches was not the best analogy, the point being the steady nibbling away of production lands

In terms of harvest, the number of farms and averages has steadily decreased in the two main areas of production in Canada - Ontario (the larger %) and B.C.

Production (yield) is dependent on so many other inputs ( as with all ag). Peach
Reduction in 2022 was about 20,000 tons. The record was in the 90’s when a level of almost 45,000 tons was reached.

Stats Can and Ag Canada keep myriad stats for those interested. 2024 stats do not seem to be on hand as yet. Anecdotally, local weather conditions ( heavy rain and high heat in June/July) most likely resulted in more peaches going to ‘industrial’ uses, as opposed to your local supermarket. (If the peach does not look just so, it will not sell).

Ok. Enough on peaches, back to the topic of this thread.

 

[rbt]

Disappearance of Ontario-grown peaches? Is that a thing? I didn't see much in the stores this year - I just thought it was my bad timing. Peaches are the one fruit that it really needs to be fresh and local, or it tastes like crap. I only eat them when they are in-season locally - I didn't even get any this year!

I might have eaten your share. Bought roughly 2 bushels over June and July, mostly from my local No Frills.

 

[innsertnamehere]

"food security" resonates until you look at statistics and realize agricultural yields in Canada continue to hit record highs despite a shrinking landbase.

The reality is that technology is increasing yields faster than subdivisions are eating up farmland. It's actually a complete non-issue rooted in NIMBYISM against change and growth.

To be clear some forms of agricultural protections are important, particularly for highly valuable agricultural areas like the Niagara Peninsula below the escarpment - but most farmland in Ontario, especially outside of southwestern Ontario, have middling soil qualities and yields and aren't really necessary to support food security. And even then, a lot of the crops traditionally reserved for Specialty Crop Areas have increasingly shifted to greenhouse operations in Essex County which produce insanely higher annual yields, and critically, produce 12 months a year.

The economic output of urban land far exceeds that of a farm as well. Replacing farmland in Alliston with a Honda Plant is an excellent trade off economically. To suggest a cultivated field generates more economic activity than a plant pumping out equipment is silly.

 

[lenaitch]

"food security" resonates until you look at statistics and realize agricultural yields in Canada continue to hit record highs despite a shrinking landbase.

The reality is that technology is increasing yields faster than subdivisions are eating up farmland. It's actually a complete non-issue rooted in NIMBYISM against change and growth.

To be clear some forms of agricultural protections are important, particularly for highly valuable agricultural areas like the Niagara Peninsula below the escarpment - but most farmland in Ontario, especially outside of southwestern Ontario, have middling soil qualities and yields and aren't really necessary to support food security. And even then, a lot of the crops traditionally reserved for Specialty Crop Areas have increasingly shifted to greenhouse operations in Essex County which produce insanely higher annual yields, and critically, produce 12 months a year.

The economic output of urban land far exceeds that of a farm as well. Replacing farmland in Alliston with a Honda Plant is an excellent trade off economically. To suggest a cultivated field generates more economic activity than a plant pumping out equipment is silly.

Hmmm. Human density vs nutritional density. I'm not an agronomist, so am unable to advance a strong technical argument but, not to deny rampant NIMBYism, food security - however it is defined - is something every sovereign nation needs to consider. If you don't grow it, you buy it, and when you buy it from afar, you are at the mercy of both a foreign seller and higher shipping costs.

The map on page 4 is best I could come up with, but it seems the rural areas around the GTA are fairly well endowed with Class 1 and 2 soil, which are the best. Not necessarily specialized; just good growing media in a favourable environment. To compare the economic output of, say, the Honda plant, against the agricultural production value of the soil that used to be there I think is a tad unfair. Besides, how do we measure the economic output of residential housing. I don't know how to compare the two, but the during its heyday of tobacco production, the economic output of the land around Alliston was significant.

Land also has intrinsic values of things like watershed management, carbon capture and biodiversity. True, that greenhouses and the like do have high yields, but are limited in the crops they can produce. I'm not aware of any that can produce grains, oil seeds or pulse at all let alone any kind of volume and they certainly can't produce dairy or meat.

The concept of 'food security' also has to consider climate change. The Palliser's Triangle in the southern Prairies is so arid it was once considered to be inarable. We've managed to make it work but it remains highly vulnerable. Part of that success was the development of 'designer' grains, and maybe we can pull another rabbit out of the hat - maybe. Some people think that as climate changes, crops can simple move north and, to a degree, that is true. They are growing crops in the northern Ontario claybelt that were not possibly several years ago, but suitable soil north of the Severn River is in short supply.