As a farmer and a board director with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, I’ve been to Queen’s Park and advocacy events representing our sector, but this week’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference offered a very different opportunity.
In one place, we had mayors, councillors, wardens and municipal staff from communities across Ontario, alongside an incredible number of provincial politicians and government staff. For OFA, that meant opportunities to talk about agriculture with people we don’t often get much one-on-one time with.
It was my first time at AMO, and I was impressed by both the size of the conference and the access it gave us to people making decisions in communities across the province.
That matters because many decisions affecting farm businesses are made close to home, from property taxation and land use planning to roads, drainage and development policies. Some municipal leaders know agriculture well; others have had little exposure to farming and may not realize how those decisions affect a farm business.
AMO gives us a chance to have those conversations. We can explain why modern farm equipment needs wider roads and bridges than in the past, why good land drainage matters so much on a farm, or why farms and other rural businesses need affordable high-speed internet, reliable cellular networks and enough energy capacity to grow.
Just as importantly, we get to listen.
Some of the questions we heard most often were about drainage, farm property taxation and farmland severances. Those conversations let us hear what municipalities are dealing with locally and explain what those issues look like from the farm side.
We also brought some of OFA’s current priorities to AMO — issues identified by our members as important. These included the potential impacts of the proposed Alto high-speed rail corridor, the need for continued investment in rural infrastructure and services, and land use planning that protects farmland while supporting smart growth and a strong agri-food sector.
That also means protecting existing food processing facilities and agricultural businesses from housing encroachment that can create land use conflicts and threaten their ability to continue operating or expanding.
These issues are different from each other, but they have something important in common: decisions about infrastructure and development need to consider agriculture from the beginning, rather than trying to address impacts on farms and farmland after decisions have already been made.
One of the things I appreciated most was that the conversations didn’t end with scheduled meetings. When OFA goes to Queen’s Park for meetings, we usually arrive, discuss the issue at hand and move on. AMO offers more opportunities to talk one-on-one — during the conference, over coffee or at evening events — and get to know people a little better.
That doesn’t mean you bypass the normal process when an issue comes up. It means there is now someone on the other end of the phone or email who knows who you are and has a better understanding of where you’re coming from.
Those connections are important in rural municipalities, but they’re valuable in urban communities too. Agriculture may not be top of mind for an urban councillor, but their decisions about development, transportation, infrastructure and economic growth can still affect farms, food processors and other agri-food businesses.
With the current uncertainty around trade and the economy, we’re also talking more about food security and our ability to produce and process food here at home. That isn’t only a federal or provincial issue. Protecting farmland, maintaining rural infrastructure and creating communities where farm and food businesses can operate and invest are influenced by municipal decisions too.
I went to my first AMO conference not quite knowing what to expect, and I came away understanding exactly why farmers need to be there. We don’t often get this much one-on-one time with municipal leaders from across Ontario — time to hear their concerns, answer their questions and help them better understand agriculture.
Source : OFA