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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen-Agriculture 2001, 2001-03-14, Page 37This Spring For All Your Hydraulic Needs • Everything from sizes 1/4" to 2 1/ 4" • II Auto Parts Plus 4r . ....m...... Steffen Auto Supply 100 Pine St. Wingham, Ont. 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Compilation of ag. data shows changing trends Changing agricultural trends From the time of the two-furrow plow and small tractor used in the 1950s, Huron County's agricultural sector has seen many changes CRAFTSMAN By Janice Becker Citizen staff Data compiled for a diverse group of residents has offered an under-' standing of what has been happening to agriculture in Huron county as far back as 50 years. Co-author of Huron County Agriculture: An Atlas Resource, along with Johanna Wandel, Philip Keddie of the University of Guelph said that through his contact with the Maitland Watershed Partnerships (MWP) group, he agreed to assem- ble a wide variety of basic informa- tion. MWP was interested in materi- al to support claims, back initiatives and give factual credence to discus- sions regarding the good and bad aspects of Huron County. They wanted to be better able to articulate the facts and have more informed dialogues, he said. Completed last summer, Keddie and Wandel dealt with agricultural trends over the past 50 years, though studies on demographics, employ- ment and business opportunities, economic well being, environmental impacts and public services have also been completed under the aus- pices of the MWP, Community Evolution Project and the Huron Business Development Corporation. The agricultural atlas's data, said Keddie, is gathered from publica- tions such as the Canada Census of Agriculture. It allows users to look at historical and traditional trends while determining balances between enterprises like livestock and crop- ping. Significant changes can have an impact on future services and needs, he said. If the trend is showing more livestock production, increased attention may need to go to manure management practices. The atlas is just one of the inves- tigative tools which organizations can use in the future to understand trends in the watershed, said Fran McQuail- of West Wawanosh, a member of the agri-ecological com- mittee formed through the MWP ini- tiative. The assemblage of information into one source gives organizations something from which to work. Huron's changing agriculture With more than 30 tables, charts and graphs, the material included in higher net receipts. There were also greater purchases of capital assets and improvements. The county also had 41 per cent of the farms with a total farm capital value of greater that $500,000 while the provincial average was 35.4 per cent. Keddie found that Huron County realized a much smaller decrease in farmland from 1951-1996. While the county dropped just six per cent, the province saw a 30- per cent decline. However, during that period, the county added 200,000 acres in crop- land, a rise of 53 per cent, with much of it being taken from improved pas- tures, 172,000 acres. While the acres cropped increased, the number of farms dropped from 5,772 to 3,150 indicating an average increase in size of 72 per cent, said the report. With total - acreage increasing, land under cultivation rose 179 per cent from 66 acres to more than 184. The types of crops planted also saw a dramatic shift during those years. Grain corn and soybeans con- stituted less than two per cent of the crops in 1951, but that number has -risen to 58 per cent of crop land use by 1996. The largest declines were seen in mixed grains, oats and hay. The general classification of farms has also changed. While livestock operations accounted for 95 per cent of the farms in 1961, that has dropped to 56 per cent. Grain and oilseed farms has risen from three per cent to 32 per cent and specialty farmers now make up six per cent, up from just .3 per cent in 1961. County agricultural statistics CRAFTSMAN Keddie and Wandel also compiled county-specific data to show what type land was being used, and for what purpose, in 1996. If looking at farms which had more than 70 per cent of the total area on class one land, the only townships which surpassed the mark were McKillop, Tuckersmith and Usborne. However, only East Wawanosh had less than 70 per cent of total farm land on class one, two or three soils. Even the average size of the farms varied greatly amongst the town- ships. While Stanley had the largest average farm size at 311 acres with Hay and Stephen close behind, Tumberry came in low at 177 acres and Go4erich only slightly larger at 188 acres. Howick had Continued on A-18 the atlas can be deciphered in many ways and used to indicate a variety of viewpoints. The following describes the statistics compiled. In comparison to provincial aver- ages for 1996 (the last year used in all the data), Huron County had both more farmland per farm (205.6 acres to 233 acres) and more of that land was used for crops (129.7 to 185.3). While Huron County residents invested more in expenses, the gross receipts were also higher resulting in CRAFTSMAN.' CRAFTSMAN.' MC= CRAFTSMAN' *Or