P.E.I. on track to lose half its farmland by 2050, says federation of agriculture 

Prince Edward Island is losing farmland at a dangerous rate, an official with the P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture warns.

The Island will lose half of its farmland by 2050 if more action is not taken to preserve it, executive director Donald Killorn said before the province's Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability on Thursday. 

"This is Prince Edward Island's most valuable natural resource," Killorn said. "What we have here, how we produce economic impact, is with the land." 

The province lost 12.3 per cent of its farmland between 2016 and 2021, the federation of agriculture said.

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Killorn said that between those years, the volume of farmland fell from 260,000 hectares to just over 200,000 — a rate seen only once before, during the 1970s.

Farmland loss has "dramatic" spinoffs on the province's economy because of its impact on farm production and the facilities processing the product created, he said.

Killorn said that large processors like Cavendish Farms, Amalgamated Dairies Limited and Atlantic Beef Products require a certain level of raw product to stay in business.

"Maintaining farmland isn't just about ensuring that our farmers have enough land, but it's about ensuring that our economic impact remains what it is," he said. 

"If we don't protect it, we will see significant drops in the economic performance of the province." 

The continued success of the tourism industry also hinges on how farmers maintain their land, Killorn said. He said that when tourists see rolling green fields and pastures filled with livestock it's a "big part" of their experience on the Island.

Maintaining agricultural land also plays a role in taking care of the environment. Killorn said the province's net-zero emission and biodiversity goals are dependent on farmers implementing best practices on their lands.

"When we lose farmland, we lose those environmental co-benefits." 

Federation suggests moratorium

The federation said subdivisions and development often drive farmland loss. It said adopting a subdivision development moratorium in areas without an official land-use plan could curb losses until a provincial plan is created.  

Farmers have previously told CBC News residential and commercial development has put them in a hard position, saying they have less land to work with and that farmland has grown way more expensive.

"For a beef farmer to justify paying that amount for an acre of land, it doesn't really make any sense. It kind of puts the beef farmer at a disadvantage," Dennis Hogan, chair of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers Association, said back in February.

"Some of this land is being turned into subdivisions, and they obviously can pay more money for that land because there's more profit in selling it for a house lot than growing crops to feed cattle on it."

We think the provincial government should be the one making decisions.- Donald Killorn, P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture

The provincial government is still working on an official P.E.I. land-use plan. The federation said it would like provincial authorities to have decision-making power on how forests and farmlands are used.

"Farmland isn't something that just benefits a municipality," Killorn said. "It's a very important economic driver for the whole province. And as such, we think the provincial government should be the one making decisions." 

A plan like this would grow municipalities by disincentivizing development outside of municipal boundaries, Killorn said, adding there is a "serious long-term cost" to the rural-residential sprawl. 

Killorn says creating denser and more populated municipalities is "the only way our province can accommodate 200,000 Islanders alongside a thriving agricultural industry."