In Canada, research shows that less and less of the money consumers spend on food is making it back to farmers. For example, the prices farmers receive for hogs and wheat have stayed relatively stable, while the retail price of bread and pork products have skyrocketed. Given that, it is apparent that the return to farmers actually plays only a small role in the changes in most food prices.
Meanwhile, the dream of farming is increasingly out of reach for many in Ontario. With farmland prices skyrocketing, much of a farmer’s capital is consumed by the cost of land, leaving little room for investment in new business enterprises such as food processing. Renting land is an alternative. However, we also know farmers are more likely to make improvement investments to farmland when they own it. This issue is not just an economic concern; it’s a matter of food security and environmental stewardship.
If we continue to lose land, the scarcity of farmland will continue to drive prices up, making it increasingly difficult for current farmers to buy land and expand into new agri-food markets, or for new and young farmers to get into agriculture in the first place.
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