Sprawl threatens farmland
Prime arable land is being lost to suburbs, industry at alarming rate
The Edmonton region is losing its top farmland to sprawling suburbs and industry at a rate three times as fast as the Calgary region and now politicians are being asked to take a stand.
If they want agriculture and food production to be key to the regional economy in 50 years, they need to act now to identify the best land for preservation, says Jerry Bouma, hired by the Capital Region Board to study the issue. His working paper, published in January, forms part of the regional growth plan to be released in draft for debate next week.
In Alberta, roughly a quarter of the land has high-quality soils.
“If you look at the Capital Region, it’s almost 70 per cent. That’s why settlement started in the Capital Region,” said Bouma.
“But do we just continue to use that up? ... We have to look at this on a 50-year, 100-year horizon.”
The Capital Region Board has the final vote on any development plans for new suburbs for Edmonton, the surrounding bedroom communities and the counties.
The province has asked for a new regional growth plan by the end of October, and it will include a section on agriculture for the first time.
Fifty years flies by in the context of history, said Bouma.
“By then Canada, and Western Canada in particular, is going to be one of the very few countries in the world that will be a net food exporter.
“There’s only half a dozen countries in that position. If this is part of our destiny and an opportunity for us, should we not be taking measures to maintain the capacity?”
His paper calls for a commitment to preserving farmland, funding to assess land based on its soils, lack of fragmentation and current use, and then an evaluation of the different tools available to preserve it.
Methods used in other jurisdictions often involve compensating farmers for development rights.
There’s growing consensus among regional leaders something needs to be done.
Leduc County’s new draft agriculture policy calls for it to set priority areas for farming and prevent those from being fragmented by industry and residential acreages. It goes to county council this spring. Parkland County and Strathcona County are working on their own policies.
But how far will the board go? Will a small parcel on the outer fringes of the region be preserved? Or will the top quality land now under threat in Leduc County be set aside, land Edmonton wants to annex?
“That’s has two to three feet of black soil. This land takes thousands of years to make,” said Leduc County Mayor John Whaley.
Much of that land is still being farmed, though it’s already somewhat fragmented and farmers feel pressure from the city. Cattle farmer Jake Wedman said he already gets complaints when he drives his equipment on the road and spreads manure, and with houses edging closer, land prices have gone up so steeply, he can’t afford to expand.
Asked about farmland preservation, he said: “Then give me my $10 million now. ... How can you not be jealous of the guy that just sold out for money that’s going to set them up for three generations?”
But it breaks his uncle Dave Wedman’s heart to think of paving this land over.
“This soil is absolutely phenomenal,” he said, pulling out a clump of barley stubble and running the smooth, moist dirt through his hands.
“It’s like the golden triangle for good soil. It’s a tough one,” said his son, Michael.
“We’re all feeling the stress of development and sprawl,” said Whaley, who meets regularly with Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and several councillors over the 3,885-hectare annexation bid.
Annexation was part of the wakeup call that spurred his council to reconsider agriculture across the county, but even as they debate preservation, they know a higher order of government needs to be involved.
“This is land rights you’re dealing with,” Whaley said.
“If you’re sterilizing someone’s land and letting someone else develop, there’s some inequity. ... We have to settle this at the Capital Region Board.”
Iveson said there’s consensus to do something. “We all hear it from our public that limitless growth and reckless, infinite consumption of farmland is not in our interest.”
But most of the loss is happening from fragmentation in the region, not new suburbs built beside existing neighbourhoods.
The board should aim to protect land in the region that’s 30 years away from development, he said.
“It’s way easier to do that now while they’re still trading at agricultural price.
“It’s still going to require the province’s support to enact.”
If you’re sterilizing someone’s land and letting someone else develop, there’s some inequity.