The development of the agricultural potential of 1.2 million hectares of unused agricultural land in the District of Cochrane is now underway following an announcement of funding from the province.
The North East Community Network (RCNE), an economic and agricultural development organization in the District of Cochrane, secured $319,800 in public funds to create a business plan to commercialize unused farmland.
These lands are located in the Great Clay Belt, a geological region of fertile land that straddles Ontario and Quebec, extends beyond Hearst to the west, and extends to the southeast of James Bay on the Quebec side.
© Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
The Great Clay Belt
Most of this land is held by private owners, who do not use it for farming.
In all, the RCNE estimates that there are 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land which could be exploited for farming and which must be targeted by the business plan.
The idea is to create a professional business plan that will allow all municipalities to make a case for seeking large investments for agriculture in our area.“, explains Gilles Matko, president of the RCNE.
After having been looking for funding over the past few years to fund this project, RCNE now claims to have enough money to hire a consultant to write the business plan.
Of course, we’ll have to hire someone from outside because we don’t have the expertise in the region.“, explains Mr. Matko.
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RCNE expects the plan to be completed by the end of the year.
Convince the landowners
While waiting for the plan, the RCNE has launched a series of surveys for owners.
The success of the plan, when launched, rests on the ability to convince those who own this land to sell or lease it in order to develop it.
Selon M. Matko, we already have farmers in the region who are at the forefront of innovation, now it’s time to expand that, over a larger territory».
Roger Lachance, a farmer from the Harty region, believes that these lands are fertile, but little used.
For the vast majority, the land is there and they don’t do anything with it, that’s why it would be important to know if they want to sell it so that there is someone who can use it.“, he says.
He says that many people might want to develop these lands, but it will probably not be new farmers or young people who will develop these lands.
Personally, I think it takes people who are already established, who are already farming, because it’s still big land, so it’s going to take a lot of money, and a young person, or someone who starts in agriculture, where will he get the money?asks Mr. Lachance.
If the project materializes, the two men believe that the region will benefit from it.
The ultimate goal of all of this is to diversify what we can do here in the Northeast and create good jobs and increase the capacity of farmers and those who want to develop their landadds Gilles Matko.
With information from Francis Bouchard and Francis Beaudry