A recent study shows economic analysis hasn't been properly used to develop Ontario land use policies.
The Fraser Institute recently released the study, it's called "An Economic Analysis of Rural Land Use Policies in Ontario".
But Mark Reusser , a member of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture executive, says the study makes the controversial assertion that Ontario’s agricultural land is not disappearing at the alarming rate that most of believe.
The study distinguishes between cropland and farmland.
Reusser states otherwise.
"The reality is cropland and pasteur are farmland," says Reusser. "Since 1951, pasteur in Ontario has been converted to cropland as the livestock industry contracted and urban boundries covered cropland."
In the end Reusser says farmers need to know the impact of government action.
"The OFA has recoginzed a real need for the Ontario government to apply economic analysis."
While the Fraser Institute study says there is a need for the economic analysis, it doesn't say how it should be applied.
