N.S. farmers say zoning laws for agricultural lands could drive them out of business
CBC
Elizabeth Crowe and her mother, Anne Crowe, walk across their family dairy farm in Burntcoat, N.S., to a large red barn in the cold November sunshine.
At 37, the younger Crowe hopes to one day buy the family farm and stay in the industry.
But the Municipality of East Hants has proposed new zoning laws that would designate much of the Crowes' land, and many others along the Minas Basin, as agricultural reserve.
That would protect the lands for years to come by restricting its use for farming only, and allow only those engaged in the agricultural activities to build any homes or new structures.
However, this designation would dramatically cut the value of the family's land — Elizabeth Crowe estimates dropping it to $1,500 per 0.4 hectares from $15,000 — and lower her borrowing power at the bank.
"I may not be able to buy my farm. So then what happens to this? This is 250 years of my family's history," she said through tears.
"I've given up so much in my life for this ... it's something I love."
Crowe said she was counting on being able to sell small parcels of unused land in years to come for cottages to keep the farm going as the prices of fuel and fertilizer continue to climb.
But under the new rules, Crowe said that wouldn't bring in nearly enough to help buy new equipment or expand.
"It's not like farming is a huge ... profitable venture anymore. It really isn't. We're making the bare minimum, trying to keep things going," she said.
Her mother said while the zoning might be useful in other areas of the municipality where there's a high density of farms and there's more development pressure, it doesn't make sense to apply in an area where there's only a handful of working farms.
She also noted that much of their area was also marked as an erosion zone, and questioned why land that will change drastically over time would be marked as reserve.
While Anne Crowe agrees it's important to maintain farms for future generations, she said the zoning downloads all the responsibility onto farmers with no incentives from any level of government.
"Why is it my responsibility now to protect it for everybody if you don't respect farmers and don't invest in farming?" she said.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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