Changes in Agriculture - Essay Example

Overview of the article The article d “Canada’s Disappearing Farmland” by Tanya Brouwers describes how Canada islosing its agriculturally viable land due to urbanization and other non-agricultural activities. Canada has put mechanisms to preserve its prime land for agriculture but in one way or another, encroachment of this land is still taking place. Ontario which has 56% of Canada’s class 1 land is also suffering from this encroachment disease and has lost 18% of its land which is very significant to national food production.

Individuals are taking it upon themselves to preserve agricultural land by donating their land to conservancy trusts or making easements to prevent future non-agricultural uses on their land. The government should take the responsibility of protecting Canada’s food security rather than just leaving the private sector to deal with the issue.Summary of “Canada’s Disappearing Farmland” by Tanya BrouwersCanada is a land abundant country. However, 94% of Canada’s land is not suitable for farming. Only 0.5% of the remaining 6% is termed as class 1 land.

Class 1 land has no substantial limitations to farming. Due to urbanization amongst other factors, viable agricultural lands are disappearing at an alarming rate. Between 1971 and 2001, more than 14,000 km2 was lost to urbanization. The public has realized this regrettable situation of agricultural land. The government and politicians have been put under pressure to address this issue in order to ensure that food security is increased. Organizations should now shift focus from educating on how to use agricultural land to addressing on where agricultural activities can be carried out.

Ontario has 56% of Canada’s class 1 land. The province has lost 18% of this land suitable for agriculture to urban use and other activities. This trend is also seen in other provinces with scarce agricultural land such as Nova Scotia which lost 80% of its farmland to non-agricultural uses between 1921 and 2006. This areas have little land preservation policies. Interestingly, provinces with abundant preservation policies have also been falling into this problem. BC’s reserve which is protected by BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve and Quebec’s Act, encompasses only 5% of the province’s land.

The area has seen a loss of over 35,000 ha of its land. 72% of this land is in the south, a region with high agricultural fertility levels. Areas such as Quebec have also changed agricultural land into highways.Since legal mechanisms are proving not to be efficiently preserving land, individuals owning agricultural land are taking this responsibility by donating their land to conservancy trusts or making easements to prevent future non-agricultural uses. The government should however lead in the fight to protect Canada’s food security by formation and implementation of effective legislation.

This is certainly a matter of national security.C) Evaluating the ArticleTanya Brouwers, the author of the article, is a Consultant for the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada. He is therefore qualified to comment on issues relating to encroachment on agricultural land since his position exposes him to such issues. Being a consultant with such an organization shows that he has a stake in the agriculture since his occupation depends on it. The article is backed by facts which mainly appear in form of percentages and dates.

The author is not biased in the article since he evaluates both the efforts made by the government and individuals in addressing encroachment on Canada’s farming land. The article was published in 2009. This being less than 5 years ago, the article is still relevant since it seeks to address a problem affecting the present and future generations. The information is reliable judging from the author’s position and his expertise in the agricultural field. The reasoning in the article is justified since it uses facts to come up with the conclusion that the government should address the problem of encroachment on the scarce and limited agricultural land.

Works CitedBrouwers, Tanya. (2009). “Canada’s Disappearing Farmland” Accessed on 21st March 2013 from http://www.organicagcentre.ca/NewspaperArticles/na_disappearing_farmland_tb.asp