No Trespassing

Every morning I go out there just a walking
I see that heavy iron marking up this land
There was a time when nobody would have live here
Now them hills are all tied up in black top

Today I thought I would discuss an issue that will affect everyone in the long run- agricultural producers and city people alike. If you haven't gotten the idea from the above George Fox lyrics, the issue I am talking about is urban sprawl. Urban sprawl can simply be defined as the spread of a city and suburbs to its outskirts and onto rural land. More and more, farmers and ranchers are choosing or are pushed to sell their land to developers. There are more people in our society today, resulting in more homes being built. Of course, the planning and placement of these homes can be inefficient and can make farming and ranching difficult. More ans more politicans and voters alike, have realized that their are few if any benefits to urban sprawl. It results in inflated costs in transportation, higher-per capita use of land, water, and energy, and most importantly, the loss of agricultural land. In Alberta's cities and towns there are still people who are hesitant to build up instead of out, working land is viewed as land waiting to be developed.




Sprawl located on the outskirts of Calgary, notice the gray
haze hanging above

 Every year, more agricultural land is lost to urban sprawl. A main difficulty is that this land is worth more money when it is developed than when it is being farmed. An acre of developed land may be worth $10 000.00  per acre while that same land is worth only around $1000.00 to $2000.00  per acre in agricultural value. Farming can have its ups and downs, and when times are not great, farmers may feel inclined to sell their land to developers. It is also a fact that the typical farmer is around the age of 55. Most of the time, the operation will be passed on to the farmers' children when they come of age. However, this is not always the case, and if the children don't take on the farm, the land may be sold for development. That results in many family farms disappearing.

There is not much that the typical farmer or rancher can do to change urban sprawl except to keep their land in their hands and promote the benefits agriculture provides. There are many programs and projects that work to sustain farm land. Action for Agriculture, an group formed in the Rocky View County, works to sustain agricultural land and keep it intact. They have 6 goals:

1. Preserve working lands
2. Discourage unnecessary spending by the Rural Municipalities
3. Foster water and soil conservation and quality for all residents
4. Promote agriculture as environmentally friendly
5. Monitor residential, recreational and commercial growth so that it is compatible with agriculture
6. Educate the public on the environmental, economic, and social benefits possible from the agriculture industry 

As well as Action for Agriculture, there is the Pekisko Group, a family bound program working to sustain native prairie land in Southern Alberta. There is so much importance in native pastures, as they support bio-diversity, have incredibly stronger grasses than seeded pastures, they are better suited for our climate, and have stood the test of time.


Farmland in southern Alberta, a most important
aspect of agriculture

 The loss of farm land not only takes away the way of life for farmers, but it affects all of the world's citizens. Although Canada will be able to feed its own citizens for many years, the loss of farm land will affect the world's food economy. We recognize that people need homes, but we also need to recognize that we need our farm land for food, North American can't depend on foreign countries for a food source. It is up to us to produce our own food. It won't be easy, but in order to save our great industry, urban sprawl must be stopped!

Please visit the links below to find out what you can do to sustain our precious land

Action for Agriculture http://www.actionforagriculture.com/
The Pekisko Group http://www.pekisko.ca/
The Nature Conservancy of Canada http://www.natureconservancy.ca/site/PageServer?pagename=ncc_main