It noted that about 40 per cent of farmers plan to retire in the next 10 years and half of them have no heirs interested in farming.
It also said “Canada is hemorrhaging farmers . . . (and) the number one barrier facing new farmers is access to farmland.”
It wants a ban because “masssive investment firms are pushing the cost of land out of reach.”
“We know what happens when land speculators are allowed to run rampant,” said Rav Singh, youth advisor for NFU-Ontario.
“It was land speculators who bought up Greenbelt farmland with the help of the Ford government, planning to pave it over and build high-end townhouses. Investment companies should not have the power to gamble with the future of farming.”
“Our governments must pull the emergency brake and keep farmland in farmers’ hands,” said NFU youth president Jessie MacInnis.
“We need land legislation that favours the next generation of farmers, not investment firms. The National Farmers Union demands that governments enact a total ban on investor ownership of farmland.”
