Dufferin group seeks ag special designation amid fears of a quarry
Thursday, March 19, 2009
by BETTER FARMING STAFF
A group of Dufferin County residents, fearing farmland in their area could be turned into a massive quarry, are seeking the protection of a special agriculture designation.
Representatives of the 11-member group, called the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Task Force, are pitching the idea in person to Melancthon Township council today. The group’s consultant, Mississauga-based engineer Garry Hunter, filed a report with the township earlier this month.
Known locally as the Honeywood silt loam potato growing soils, the area covers about 14,000 acres, mostly in Melancthon Township. The area is unique in southern Ontario, Hunter states in the report. The soil type, combined with the region’s “increased rainfall, cool nights and warm days are conducive to growing consistently high quality and yields of potatoes.”
Dale Rutledge, the group’s chair, says concerns involve The Highland Companies’ recent acquisition of 6,000-7,000 acres in the area. John Lowndes and Michael Daniher, representative and spokesman, respectively, could not be reached for this story. Letters written to local councils present a snapshot of the business.
Lowndes wrote that Highland farms about 7,500 acres in Melancthon Township, 1,000 acres in adjacent Mulmur Township and about 750 acres in Norfolk County.
He describes Highland as “the operating and investment platform for a group of private investors I brought together in recent years,” and claims it is “the largest producer, distributor and marketer of potatoes in Ontario.”
Since 2007, Highland has grown potatoes under the Downey Potato Farms and Wilson Farms brands. Another arm is negotiating to buy the Orangeville-Brampton railway from the Town of Orangeville, a deal media reports have estimated to be worth $7 million. The company is exploring the possibility of extending the railway to Owen Sound with Dufferin and Grey counties, owners of the area’s former rail corridor.
While Highland is committed to the future of its farm business, Lowndes states other land uses are being explored. Those may include wind power and “bedrock resource.”
Rutledge says local residents first became worried about the possibility of a “giant lunar landscape” two years ago as news of local farms changing hands surfaced. A meeting held in January to discuss the issue drew a standing room only crowd, he says.
The group hired Hunter in December. They are paying for his services out of their own pockets because “we needed help.”
Rutledge farms potatoes and cash crops on 2,000 acres in the area proposed for special designation and says the group is concerned about the loss of agricultural land. There are also worries that a large quarry operation might affect local water quality. Rutledge says the group fears a railway line, if established, would be used to haul aggregate.
Rutledge’s group plans to hold another public meeting in April or early May.
Denise Holmes, Melancthon’s clerk-treasurer, says council referred the group’s request to their planner for comments.
The township has not received any railroad or gravel pit development applications.
Being home to a specialty crop, having soils or climatic conditions suited its production as well as a pool of farmers skilled in its production and a related processing infrastructure are among the qualifying factors for designation.
To date, specialty crop areas have been identified in the official plans of Niagara and York regions as well as Simcoe and Grey counties. BF