A recent Wellington County study examining farmland and the local agri-food system showed the county provides hundreds of millions of dollars in labour income within farm and upstream jobs. Council’s focus at a Wellington County meeting Thursday was keeping the numbers as high as the $500 million figure.

Bronwynne Wilton, lead consultant at Wilton Consulting, presented the data in conjunction with the Wellington Federation of Agriculture.

Coun. Shawn Watters, who's also mayor of Centre Wellington, stated growth is coming "really quickly" and farmlands need to be protected "now."

Wilton had more numbers representing a local agricultural economy that is "thriving."

"One of the important ones is the agri-food system in Wellington County contributes $2.8 billion to Canada's gross domestic product which is really important," Wilton stated.

"I think it's $1.08 billion to Ontario's gross domestic product. So, I think that's very important and does provide a lot of jobs," she added.

Education, Wilton says, will be a big key to keep these trends up.

"I think a crucial thing as our population grows is to make sure we don't set up conflict between urban and rural populations," Wilton said.

"Really making sure we do strong education planning around new urban housing developments so we incorporate that education aspect into people moving into the community. The fact that they'll be living close to agriculture and that's a good thing," she added.

Coun. Doug Breen stated less than two per cent of the population is actively involved in agriculture. He says he worries there could be a food security crisis coming down the pipeline.

Wilton went on to say nearly half of the farmer population could be thinking about retiring in the next decade.

She says preventing the crisis Breen referenced is an all hands on deck approach, involving residents and councils at lower-tiered municipalities and county levels.

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