A few years out from retirement, Bouctouche, N.B., farmer Christian Michaud isn’t ruling out the possibility of selling his farm land to a residential developers.
“As farmers we’re stuck in a moral dilemma. We realize that farmers can’t afford to pay in most cases what these land developers can pay,” he said in an interview on Monday .
“Most of us want to see the farm continue.”
Eighteen per cent of farm land was lost over five years in New Brunswick, according to the most recent Census data.
Suzanne Fournier, the executive director for the National Farmer’s Union’s New Brunswick brand, said they are “significantly concerned” about farm land being sold to residential developers.
She says there are many factors leading to the national trend, such as farmers not having succession plans.
She is calling for a multi-pronged approach, including stronger policies to incentivize farmers to keep their land for farming.
In New Brunswick, the Farm Land Identification Program (FLIP) provides a tax rebate to farmers who sign up
Michaud, who is also second Vice President for the Agricultural Alliance, makes use of the program on his farm, but says the program “is not working”.
“The idea is good but right now the way it’s run it’s not doing it’s job,” he said.
The program has been under review for over a year.
“(FLIP is) not working particularly well because if farmers decide to sell their land or if they decide to use a piece of that land that’s been identified for another purpose, then the whole parcel (of land) is removed from the program and (farmers) have to pay back all the taxes that they’ve received the rebate on,” Fournier explained.
“Farmers look at this and don’t know where the next five years will bring them for that parcel of land and are hesitant to sign up because of the possibility of having to pay back,” she said.
Michaud said measures need to be put in place now to avoid future food shortages.
“We can’t lose all our best farmland for condos because that’s going to be causing problems down the line,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told Global News in an emailed statement that FLIP has seen several changes since it was put in place in 1979.
There is no set timeline to finish the review and implement changes to the program “as there are many factors to review and consider.”
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