Adapted from Reid et al. 1996, and Statistics Canada: Census of Agriculture, 1991.
9.0 Historical Changes in the Land-Use and Wetland Availability in Old Norfolk County
Table 9.3 Trends in Agricultural Land Use (1951-1986) for the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk.
Inland ecosystems can have a substantial influence on coastal ecosystems: A first "Law" of geography states that everything is interrelated (Forman 1995). Consequently, land-use practices within the Big Creek catchment not only influence the ecological functioning of within-catchment wetlands, they also affect the ecology of Long Point Bay. Therefore, unsustainable farming practices do not simply impact at the local level, they have far-reaching and long lasting consequence at the landscape level.
Southern Ontario maintains 25% of Canada's population on 1/4 of 1% of its area. This and the highly productive soils and favorable climate have predisposed the region to intensive agriculture. However, at present the Haldimand-Norfolk Region is farmed much less intensively than most other southern Ontario counties (Figure 9.1). From a wildlife habitat perspective, it is also fortunate that old Norfolk County has a modest population density, and that the projected population growth for the Haldimand-Norfolk region to the year 2021 is considerably less than most other southern Ontario Counties (Figure 9.2 )
Whereas the landscape in old Norfolk County has remained primarily agricultural based throughout its history, the area has experienced substantial changes over time in the types of crops predominately produced (see section 9.1.2). Old Norfolk's landscape has once again been experiencing a fairly substantial change over the past 18 years; this time it can primarily be attributed to the rationalization of the tobacco industry. Although tobacco remains the major cash crop throughout the area, it is slowly being replaced by cereal grain crops (Table 9.2), especially corn. For instance, there was an 18% increase in small grain production between 1971 and 86 (Wilcox 1993), and acreage of corn in the region has increased seven-fold since 1950 (Leach 1981).
| Farm Type | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | % change 1971-86 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Grains | 4.2 | 11.3 | 20.7 | 22.8 | +18.6 |
| Tobacco | 45.5 | 39.2 | 36.3 | 29.9 | -15.6 |
| Dairy | 16.5 | 14.2 | 9.0 | 9.4 | -7.1 |
| Livestock | 21.5 | 14.6 | 15.0 | 18.3 | -3.2 |
| Wheat | 0.6 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 2.3 | +1.7 |
| Other Field Crops | 1.3 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.4 | +4.1 |
| Fruits & Vegetables | 6.6 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 8.6 | +2.0 |
| Mixed farms | 3.7 | 7.8 | 5.2 | 3.3 | -0.3 |
Whereas total farmland in the area declined from 87 to 74% of the region's land area between 1951 and 1986 (Table 9.3), conversion from tobacco to cereal grains tends to promote the conversion of marginal lands, forests and wetlands to crop production. This can be attributed to the fact that tobacco farming is much more lucrative than cereal grain production with respect to the amount that can be earned per hectare. Consequently, while tobacco producers are not forced to farm extremely large areas to make a living, the opposite is true of small grain producers. Also, since cereal grains are most efficiently produced with large equipment, farmers attempt to maximize return on these investments by converting marginal land and natural areas to cultivation (Buttel 1990). Not surprisingly, this has also resulted in a trend to fewer but larger farms which are generally less diversified with respect to crops produced (Table 9.3)(Barrett et al. 1990; Wilcox 1993). However, old Norfolk County probably remains the most diversified of all agricultural areas in Ontario (Chanasyk 1970) with tobacco, corn, rye, wheat, hay, milk, livestock, poultry, ginseng, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, cabbage, sweet corn, cucumbers, pickles, garlic, chick peas, evening primrose, peppermint, artichokes, okra, celeriac, oriental vegetables, collards, broccoli, and peanuts being produced. Both cereal crops and tobacco require quite heavy inputs of fertilizer and nutrients. The specific effects of these inputs is discussed in Chapter 3.
| 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | % change 1951-86 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of farms | 6027 | 5381 | 4480 | 4019 | 3899 | 3300 | -45.2 |
| Total farm area (ac) | 623799 | 607663 | 575675 | 552467 | 557477 | 522205 | -16.3 |
| Avg farm size (ac) | 103.5 | 112.9 | 128.5 | 137.5 | 143 | 158 | +52.9 |
| Total farm population | 40256 | 23701 | 18850 | - | 13554 | 10675 | -73.5 |
| Person/farm | 6.7 | 4.4 | 4.2 | - | 3.5 | 3.2 | -52.2 |
RMHN Economic Base Study 1984, 1989.
