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THE PORT PERRY STAR TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1995 -5 FARM & COUNTRY LIFE Durham not taking farmland seriously By Stephen Leahy With economic recovery apparently under way, Durham is receiving a growing number of appli- cations for new subdivi- sions from developers. But what is good news for the housing industry threatens to undermine Durham's thriving agri- cultural sector. New housing develop- ments are almost always located in right on top of Canada's best farmland. "We are not taking farmland seriously at the Region of Durham," Dur- ham Region Chairperson Gary Herrema told the Durham Region Farm Fresh Marketing Associa- tion at last year's annual meeting. "ASH CROP Regional Chairman GARY HERREMA By Bob Brozina A monthly column on Financial Planning for Farmers Isn't Financial Planning only for the rich? Why spend money on insurance? Would I do better investing elsewhere? How much insurance is right for me? How about retirement? These are some of the valid, intelligent questions that people commonly ask. Unfortunately, the answers they receive are rarely simple and often defy intelligence. Although everyone seems to be talking about it, Financial Planning may be one of the most misunderstood, misused and misrepresented terms to confound the consumer today. That is really a shame because the purpose of Financial Planning is to simplify your affairs and to help attain your dreams. With the enormous investment required to run a viable farm today, Financial Planning is essential for farmers. A good plan starts with a detailed inventory of what you have. Next, the most important task is to describe what you want. What do you want for your family, your retirement, your business and yourself? It then becomes the planner's job to present you with strategies to use what you have as efficiently as possible to get what you want. The final decisions will always be yours as is the responsibility for implementing the recommendations. A good Financial Plan will pay certain bills cheaper than you otherwise would. It should protect what you have worked hard to earn and it should help you achieve the future you want. It answers important questions like: What will happen to the farm? Can my child afford to inherit the business? What will happen to my wife? Who will pay the taxes? Where will the money come from if I get sick? How well can I retire? Can I afford university for the kids? Like a master craftsman, a good Financial Planner has many different tools at his disposal. There are hundreds of different plans for life insurance, disability income replacement, RRSPs, annuities, RRIF's, investment and savings. None are better than another any more than a hammer is better than a saw. Their value comes from how appropriately they are applied to a specific task by a skillful craftsman. This is where the services of a trained professional are invaluable. Otherwise it is a little like doing oral surgery at home. You may have read a dozen books on the subject, but I would still rather have a dentist look after my teeth thank you. In future columns I plan to take some of the mystery out of such topics as: Farm Succession Planning; What to expect from Insurance; Retirement Planning; Funding Farm Buy-Sell Agreements; Disability Income Replacement; etc. If you have any specific questions or suggestions for future "CA$H CROP" topics, please sent them to Bob Brozina, ¢/o The Port Perry Star, 188 Mary St., Port Perry, Ont. LIL 1B7. Bob Brozina is a practicing Insurance Agent with North American Life in Oshawa. He is a Chartered Life Underwriter, a Chartered Financial Consultant and Director of Training with NALACO for Central Ontario. Housing development - not farming - would ap- pear to be Durham's fu- ture. But unknown to most residents, agricul- ture is big business here. More than $200 million dollars directly, and possi- ble ten times that amount indirectly, are estimated to have been funnelled into the economy last year. "People don't realize that the agri-food busi- ness is the second largest industry in Ontario," said Roger George, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. George esti- mates that one in seven people in the province are employed in this $60- million-a-year sector. Despite the loss of prime farmland in Durham -- more than 14,570 hectars (36,000 acres) between 1981 and 1991 -- agricul- ture's economic contribu- tion has showed only a slight decline because of increased productivity on the farm. But there is con- cern that as the best lands Durham are converted into new housing develop- ments, agriculture's eco- nomic importance will de- cline. While the ever- increasing loss of prime farmland is still a concern, the agricultural communi- ty, including Ontario Fed- eration of Agriculture, is more concerned about the economics of farming. "If a farmer can't make a dollar farming, why Market revenue 'Support levels announced ~ Support levels under the Market Revenue Insurance Program have been deter- mined for the 1995-96 crop year... ..- "oo Under a new system, which is effective for the 1995-96 crop year, enrolled producers will not be required to pay premiums by November 1 each year. Instead, one-third of the 'payments made to produc- ers under the program will be deducted to cover their share of the premium. The 1995-96 market rev- enue support levels are as follows: COMMODITY SUPPORT LEVEL $ TONNE Winter Wheat 1465.36 Spring Grains 118.88 Corn 123.26 Soybeans 278.36 White Beans 501.08 Colored Beans 0599.26 Canola 280.87 Spring Wheat 169.82 The program provides support to farmers when the market price for eligi- ble crops is lower than the support level calculated under the program. The premiums are funded 41.66 per cent by the feder- al government, and 25 per cent by the provincial government, shouldn't he be able to sell his land to a developer?" asks Mr. George. Farmland should be preserved for economic reasons, not sentimental ones, Mr. George said. Like every other business, "it is the bottom line that counts." Although the recession temporarily slowed the pace of development, Mar- vin Stevenson, president of the Durham Region Farm Fresh Marketing Association, suggests that today's stressed-out ur- banites may make it eco- nomically feasible for farmers to survive in south Durham. "City dwellers are look- ing to get some stress re- lief by getting in touch with nature," said Mr. Ste- venson, who operates Na- ture's Bounty Apple Or- chard in Scugog. As a result they are flocking to farmers' markets, road- side vegetable stands, and pick your own farms. "Farmers are changing their operations to meet this demand," says Ste- venson. This ability to adjust to the marketplace is one of the keys to maintaining a strong agricultural indus- try. But unlike other in- dustries, the raw material for farming -land - cannot be obtained elsewhere. And once a farm is paved over, its food production capabilities are gone for- ever. It is precisely for eco- nomic reasons that Lorne Almack, a Claremont farmer and member of the Pickering Rural Associa- tion, a citizens' group op- posed to urban sprawl, GET READY FOR SUMMER WITH THESE HOT SPECIALS! wants to conserve as much farmland as possible. He said that food pro- duction world wide is not keeping pace with popula- tion growth. 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