Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland per day to urban sprawl. In 2021, the total amount saw a five per cent plunge.
Northumberland County is trying to do something about this. County planner Dwayne Campbell will talk about efforts to preserve prime agricultural land. Plus he will describe what can be done with some of the other lands that are not so great for farming. The process is called agricultural mapping. All of this while developers continue to apply pressure to build homes and subdivisions at an increasing rate.
Then, it is the farmer’s turn. Former Northumberland Federation of Agriculture President Sid Atkinson will share his views. Earlier this week he attended a public meeting about agricultural mapping in Campbellford. It was the first of three public meetings taking place. He will share his views on the meeting and the need to preserve farmland.
Finally, something a bit different. There was a shooting early Monday morning in downtown Cobourg. Business owner Rohan Pine, 37, died. Police continue to investigate the incident. For the tight-knit community of business owners and residents, it made a big impact. Keith Herring, co-chair of the Downtown Business Improvement Area or DBIA spoke to me for a news story. I wanted to share the full interview because it speaks to so much of what makes living and doing business in a small town different.
