Sturgeon County farmers were cautious last week when asked about a proposal to make a regional master plan for agriculture around Edmonton.
About 20 people came to the Fedorah Community Hall southwest of Lily Lake Thursday for an open forum on agriculture.
The Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board is working on a regional agricultural master plan as part of its growth plan, said Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw, who sits on the master plan’s task force.
The growth plan says that the master plan will aim to conserve prime agricultural land, grow and diversify the agri-food economy, and guide agriculture supportive infrastructure, and will incorporate existing municipal agricultural strategies.
County council tried to change how it regulated farming last year when it revised the land-use bylaw. After hundreds turned out to protest proposed rules for agri-business, council backed off and said it would instead create an agricultural master plan.
While other counties around Edmonton have local agricultural master plans, and while this year’s budget has $100,000 allocated to such a plan, Hnatiw said that the county was not developing one, as the regional plan might make a local one redundant.
“We’re not seeking to create a land-use bylaw around agriculture. We’re just collecting information and being advocates for our producers.”
The county is instead focusing its efforts on the regional agriculture plan by holding a series of open forums this month, funded using that $100,000, Hnatiw explained. Council will use information from these forums to both support local agriculture and to ensure that the regional board doesn’t overstep its bounds.
“It’s incumbent on all of us to protect agricultural land and determine how to use it differently to increase the yields that come off it to feed a growing population,” Hnatiw said.
The Edmonton Metro board has two years in which to complete its plan, Hnatiw said.
Caution and skepticism
Farmers at the Fedorah forum were cautious about the idea of an agricultural master plan.Myron Magera, whose family has farmed near Fedorah since 1906, said he supported the idea of preserving farmland, and was concerned Edmonton would try to annex more of it.
“They don’t make any more No. 1 or No. 2 soil, so we have to preserve that. That’s where we’re getting all these crops from.”
Economics were making it tougher to stay on the farm and making farms larger, Magera said. Whereas you used to be able to make do with 300 acres back in the 1950s, you need about 2,000 today to cover your capital costs.
Former county councillor David Kluthe said he was concerned that more regulation of farming would simply raise costs for farmers, and alleged this was an attempt by Edmonton to control the countryside.
“This is (about) stopping any development outside the city limits to keep us as a land bank whenever they want to develop,” he said.
“I’m a third generation farmer. I don’t want somebody telling me how to run my farm.”
While she supported the idea of preserving good farmland, Tam Andersen of Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm said it’s easy to do that in the wrong way. Greenbelt policies in B.C. and Ontario protected land but also jacked up land prices so high that young farmers couldn’t buy any. Many farmers also want to sell their land to fund their retirement.
Andersen said she hoped that an agricultural master plan would include an action plan to promote value-added agriculture and women in farming, and not include any sort of land reserve system.
The county has additional forums planned on March 15, 21, and 22 at the Rivière Qui Barre Community Hall, Pembina Place Community Cultural Centre, and Namao Community Centre, respectively. The forums run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Residents can also take an online survey on the farm master plan at bit.ly/2p5KWEn.
Questions on the forums should go to Natasha De Sandi at 780-939-8350.
