Agriculture in the Central Zone

Walton surveys the current state of agriculture in the Central Ontario Zone, noting its important contribution to the Ontario economy. She notes that farms require more than good soil, they need an appropriate micro-climate and access to affiliated services, and therefore when a farm is lost in one place, it usually cannot be recreated elsewhere. Agriculture currently competes for land with urban development, recreational land uses, transportation corridors, and aggregate extraction, and thousands of acres of prime farmland are lost each year. Walton argues that maintaining agriculture means more than preserving land; it requires support for the industry as a whole, including tax reform, research funding, ways to resolve land use conflicts, public education, and measures than ensure long-term financial security for farmers.