The Rural Voice, 2004-08, Page 25WNERS
founded by University of Guelph
professor, Stewart Hilts and Don
Prince who's been involved with the
Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust.
The Ontario Farmland Trust is
looking for landowners to donate
their properties. Trust lands are to be
farmed in an environmentally -sound
manner, incorporating such things as
best management practices.
Landowners making a donation may
also be able to attach conditions,
such as having the land farmed
organically.
There's some consideration being
given to securing government
support for the effort. "I like our non-
governmental board of directors but
we do need government money,"
Prince commented.
The trust was structured to
include five representatives of
the farm community on its
board of directors. Making farm
appointments were the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture, Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario, and
AGCare (Agriculture Groups
Concerned about the Resources and
the Environment).
"I think the timing of creating this
charity has been very opportune,"
commented Elbert van Donkersgoed,
a CFFO appointee.
"If the farmland is preserved, the
farmer will be preserved and we (as
Canadians) will not have to bow to
arry other nation," said Nancy
Walther, an OFA appointee.
It's unclear just how much
farmland can be protected though a
trust program dependent on
donations or through provincial
legislation stemming from the
Greenbelt Task Force.
A land trust can be broken through
government appropriation or though
the mutual agreement of the parties
involved. Any recommendations
from the Greenbelt Task Force
favourable to farmland preservation
must be backed up with the political
will.
OFA director Harry Brander farms
in Halton Region, part of the
greenbelt study area, a place where
farmland is rapidly disappearing.
There's a temporary moratorium on
development until the end of the
year, but once that's lifted, Brander
wonders just how long the developer
bulldozers will remain idle.0
HELP FOR ONTARIO FARMERS IN CRISIS
Queen's Bush Rural Ministries
�r
Provides a free confidential service
to listen and offer a network
of helpful contacts.
can Collect 1-519-369-6774
ATTENTION: ALL FARMLAND
PROPERTY 0
TIME IS RUNNING OUT
Have you filed your 2004 Farm Business Registration?
Remember, a requirement to get the lower 'farmlands' class
property tax rate is a valid Farm Business Registration
number. Contact Agricorp at 1-866-327-3678 for more
information.
Also to be eligible for the lower tax rate, you must have filed a
multi-year application with the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture and Food (OMAF) for all of your farm properties .
If you have any questions on the Farmlands Property Class tax
rate program, contact OMAF at 1-800-469-2285.
Brought to you by the Huron,
Perth, Grey and Bruce County
Federations of Agriculture
AUGUST 2004 21
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