Soil Health and Rented Land

Let’s talk about farming on rented land.

Why? There has been growing public scrutiny of agriculture and its impact on the environment, challenging farmers to focus on sustainability. Ontario’s farmers are rising to meet this challenge with innovative farming practices that improve soils and protect the environment, while still maintaining high levels of food production.

This environmental challenge is also coming at a time of tremendous change in Ontario agriculture. In Ontario, over 35% (4 million acres) of farmland is currently on the rental market. Land prices and farmland rental rates have soared in many areas across the province and to a price that is unsustainable for many farmers.

But what does this have to do with the environment?  Evidence shows that rented land may not be managed with the same long-term perspective as land that is farmer-owned. For farmers, short-term rental contracts conflict with the fact that the soil health and economic benefits of good farming practices are only realized in the long term.

All this is to say that landlords and renting farmers will play an ever increasing role when it comes to the sustainability of agriculture and www.farmlandagreements.ca is a resource for both parties to explore their options.