The Rural Voice, 1989-08, Page 80BRUCE
• The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER County federation members by the BCFA.
44610th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
OPINION
RISING LAND PRICES SPELL DANGER
After bottoming out in the mid -
eighties, prices for farm land appear to
be on the rise once again. Outrageous
increases in Southern Ontario's urban
real estate market are at least part of the
reason. Faced with paying two to five
hundred thousand dollars for a nice
home within commuting distance of
Toronto, more and more buyers are
eyeing the rural landscape where homes
are much cheaper and the attached farm
land seems to be thrown in at no charge.
The direct effect of this phenomenon
is most dramatic in tourist -infested ave-
nues stretching north from the 401 to
places like Barrie and Orillia. There I
spoke to one successful young dairy
farmer whose enviable predicament il-
lustrates the significance of these devel-
opments for the farm community.
Dave bought 100 acres of fairly good
land with bank barn and four-bedroom
house in 1984. The farm is just off
Highway 12, about 25 miles south of
Orillia, four miles from his father, with
whom he works in partnership. He paid
$175,000 in 1984 and spent a fair bit
renovating both the barn and the house.
People driving by on Highway 12 fre-
quently stop in to ask if Dave wants to
sell. The latest offer is $900,000. The
agricultural value of this land is defi-
nitely inferior to that of farms in south -
em Bruce County, which are valued by
the FCC at less than $1,000 an acre.
It seems to me that the same escala-
tion will inevitably spread to all of the
prime agricultural areas in Ontario.
People in Dave's position are, of course,
not crying when they find out that being
a farmer has suddenly become very
profitable. But leaders in agriculture,
particularly general farm organizations,
are being extremely shortsighted if they
do not come to terms with the far-reach-
ing detrimental impact of land values
that are many times more than the pro-
ductive capabilities of the farm would
dictate.
Who will own this land? Urban
investors? Developers? Foreign specu-
lators?
It seems an inescapable reality that at
$10,000 or $20,000 an acre, the name on
the deed will not belong to anyone with
callused hands and a sunburned neck.
The new class of landowner will eventu-
ally control rural municipalities and
develop regulations to suit a heritage
and culture completely alien to ours.
Land that is acquired purely as a specu-
lative business venture will be mined or
paved over without regard for the future.
Young people will have no hope of
owning their own farm. Vertically inte-
grated agri-businesses will have an easy
time controlling huge parcels of land
which previously yielded a living for
hundreds of farm families.
To put restrictions on who can buy
land and how much can be paid for it
seems politically impossible at the
moment. But these are precisely the
issues our farm organizations must
begin to grapple with. The alternative is
that the next generation of farmers will
be merely tenants or, worse yet, union-
ized labourers employed in the food
industry.0
Note: Each month this page will
contain an opinion on a current
farm issue. We would like to know
what YOU think. If your opinion
differs from the one you have read
here, or if you support our view,
call the office at 364-3050.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE BCFA July 20, 1989:
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture
president Ron Garland said he is shocked at
the resignation under pressure of Ken Kelly
from the executive of the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture.
Kelly, a defender of financially strapped
farmers, said he was "disturbed and sickened
by the day's event."
Kelly said he was called to a meeting
with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Executive and president Brigid Pyke on July
20 and presented with the ultimatum to re-
sign his post or be removed by the executive.
Former OFA vice-president Jack Wilk-
inson said the executive shouldn't have the
right to demand that Kelly resign.
"I think there should be an official com-
plaint on behalf of the people who elected
Mr. Kelly," Wilkinson said.
Kelly says he will continue to fight
through his home Bruce County federation
78 THE RURAL VOICE
and other supporters in the OFA.
He said Pyke initiated the pressure on
June 7, charging a "perceived" conflict of
interest in Kelly's dealings with farm debt
problems and financial issues while holding
a position on the Executive Committee of the
OFA. She advised the executive that a
"formal complaint" had been received from
the FCC.
Kelly's counsel and the FCC say they
perceive no such conflict. Kelly works with
MacKenzie and Associates, farm financial
consultants in Tiverton.
On June 7, Pyke presented Kelly with a
draft letter which she wanted him to sign.
The letter was addressed to herself and be-
gan:
"I have become increasingly aware of
the possibility of perceived conflict of inter-
est on my part in any discussions by the
Executive Committee or the Board of Direc-
tors conceming issues of farm debt or
credit."
"Accordingly, I will voluntarily with-
draw from any future discussions that con-
cern the Farm Debt Review Board or federal
Farm Credit Corporation ..."
"I will welcome reminders given by you
from time to time on agenda topics and
discussions you feel I should not take part
Kelly says he refused to sign and sought
advice from several sources. None per-
ceived he had such a conflict, he said. On
June 19, he informed Pyke of those opinions.
He received no response to that letter,
and on July 7 wrote another asking that the
source and content of the conflict of interest
allegation be revealed to him.
"The key questions here are simple,"
Garland said. "Who is the OFA an agent of
and to whom does it owe a duty?"0