9.0 Historical Changes in the Land-Use and Wetland Availability in Old Norfolk County

9.1 Land cover and land-use change in old Norfolk County

9.1.3 Tobacco era

Table 9.1 Haldimand-Norfolk Tobacco Production, 1930-1986.

Whereas the reforestation of old Norfolk increased the ecological integrity of the area, the introduction of tobacco as a crop increased the economic viability of local agriculture. With the discovery that tobacco could be grown very successfully on sandy soils, the first crop was planted in 1920. High profit margins were immediately realized, resulting in tobacco very quickly becoming the dominant agricultural crop throughout the area over the next fifty years (Table 9.1).

Although the tremendous increase in tobacco production initially resulted in further forest clearing, it has also brought substantial benefits to the regional landscape. Tobacco plants are susceptible to direct wind damage as well as the sand blasting effect of wind erosion. Consequently, tobacco production necessitated the planting of extensive wind breaks and cover crops, which provided a micro-climate that favors tobacco growth (Wilcox 1993). The need to minimize wind erosion and the small number of acres required to produce tobacco compared to that of cereal grains, resulted in farmers retaining substantial woodlots on their properties (Beazley and Nelson 1993).

Due to the high nutrient requirements of tobacco, rye is generally planted in the fall as a cover crop and is subsequently plowed into the soil in the spring prior to planting tobacco. This serves to increase the humus content of the soil which provides more favorable conditions for tobacco production. A major benefit of this farming system is that it provides soil cover during the winter, thereby substantially reducing wind and water erosion. Reforestation and the tobacco industry, through the establishment of wind breaks and cover crops, resulted in the stabilization of the old Norfolk soils, transforming the area into one of the most productive and profitable agricultural regions in Ontario (Gartshore 1987; Wilcox 1993).

The Ontario Tobacco Industry suffered difficult times in the 1980s, resulting in a substantial decline in old Norfolk Counties tobacco production (Table 9.1). Production declined very quickly to 35,000 acres in 1986 from the 124,000 acres in 1978 (Wilcox 1993). This can be attributed to substantial declines in tobacco quotas due to anti-smoking campaigns, stockpiled inventories, increased interest charges, and losses due to poor weather or disease, making it extremely difficult for small farms to compete with larger producers (RMHN 1989; Wilcox 1993). The tobacco quota has been increasing slowly in the late 1990s (Table 9.1).