Maritime provinces lead country in unused farmland: Statistics Canada
Maritime provinces lead country in unused farmland: Statistics Canada
New Statistics Canada numbers show a sharp decline in the amount of land being used for farming, especially in the Maritimes.
Farmer Christian Michaud sees it first-hand.
He has been forced to scale back operations at his farm in Bouctouche, N.B.
“We have adjusted that’s for sure. We used to grow 200 acres of vegetables and we are down to 100,” says Michaud, who is the chair of the New Brunswick Agricultural Alliance.
A number of reasons are at play.
The cost of production and the small financial return combined with the stress of the profession doesn’t make farming an attractive venture.
“If you go out in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I., there’s lots of abandoned farmland and that’s a waste, unfortunately,” says food industry expert Sylvain Charlebois.
Stats Canada’s numbers prove it.
Nationwide, there has been a nearly 8 per cent drop in the area used for farming between 2001 and 2021.
The Maritimes are among the biggest losers.
Nova Scotia leads the way with 28.4 per cent less area farmed, New Brunswick is close behind at 28.3 per cent and on P.E.I. there’s 21.8 per cent less land being used for farming.
“We are at a point here in our region that we need, we need a plan to actually make our rural economy much more valuable and right now it’s just not a focus,” Charlebois says.
Increased efficiency in farming also plays a role.
Scientific advancements allow farmers to grow higher-yield crops on less land.
That’s good news as Nova Scotia aims to double its population by 2060.
“Food is got to be grown somewhere and I’d like to see it be grown here or as much as possible,” says Tim Marsh, who is the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture.
To do that, Michaud would like to see a commitment from government.
"Some true investment from government to make sure that the agriculture industry moves forward,” Michaud says.
Correction
This article has been edited to correct spelling in the paragraph, "Scientific advancements allow farmers to grow higher-yield crops on less land."
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
A train derailment and resulting large fire prompted an evacuation order and a declaration of a state of emergency in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line on Friday night, covering the area in billows of smoke lit orange by the flames below.
After being charged with speeding by a city-operated photo radar device, a Toronto family was able to successfully fight the charge in court largely due to one small detail.
Torontonians appear to be returning downtown in greater numbers but the pace of the city’s economic recovery still lags behind many other North American cities, a new study suggests.
Alberta's high court is being asked to overturn a review board decision relating to the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party on the grounds the former provincial justice minister interfered.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kept Connor Bedard off the scoresheet for the first time in 36 games, but it wasn't enough, as the 'Canes lost 3-2 to the Regina Pats Friday night.
Residents from Quebec to Newfoundland and Labrador are waking up this morning to more extreme cold weather. Emergency officials warned people to seek shelter and monitor for frostbite if they had to be outside overnight, as the temperature across much of Eastern Canada was expected to feel like -40 C to -50 C with the wind chill.
A Quebec university study found that nearly three years of the pandemic have had an effect on the travel habits of Quebecers: even with the partial or complete lifting of restrictions, they increasingly prefer to travel at home. The most recent Cahier des tendances published by the Transat Chair in Tourism at the École des sciences de la gestion de l'UQAM revealed that inflation and health measures hurt many Quebecers.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The owner of Radical Gardens, a restaurant in Timmins said she's experienced nineteen robberies over the last eight years; with the most recent one taking place in the early morning hours Friday.
Winnipeg police released a new image of a 31-year-old woman who has been missing since early last year on Friday in the hope it may generate new information on her whereabouts.
A fire destroyed a popular paint and hobby shop in Winkler Thursday afternoon with black smoke prompting Winkler police to close off a stretch of Highway 32 for more than an hour.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
Vancouver Canucks faithful have seen it all during yet another disappointing season - and several say they're frustrated not only with the on-ice performance, but with a lack of answers from the team's front office.
Saskatchewan is reacting to the removal of controversial amendment G4 to Bill C-21 by the federal Liberals, which banned certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
An emergency room doctor on Vancouver Island is calling on the leadership of the health authority to resign, saying harassment by Island Health officials is prompting doctors to abandon the region amid a critical shortage of health-care workers.
