Farmland Campaign – Video Archive
Library of NFU Videos and Podcasts on Farmland
Treaty Land Sharing Network: Honouring Treaties in Rural Saskatchewan with Martha Robbins and Tom Harrison
Martha Robbins and Tom Harrison speak on the Treaty Land Sharing Network: a group that formed a couple of years ago with a mission to connect farmers and other land holders with first nations and métis people needing safe access to land to practice their way of life. Martha Robbins has been a member of the Treaty Land Sharing Network since 2018. More information about the TLSN
Buy, Buy, Buy: Land Grabbing & Farmland Financialization
We’re losing farmland quickly. Land-speculation, coupled with development pressures, is among the leading causes of farmland loss. A large amount of agricultural land has been purchased by private pension plans and investment funds, creating prohibitive cost barriers for new and young farmers, which disproportionately affect some farmers more than others. How can we keep farmland in the hands of farmers? This panel explores the urgent need for the Ontario government to present, debate, and pass legislation to prevent the purchase of agricultural lands by private investment funds, as well as the many ways farmers, in particular Black farmers, are creating pathways to finances and access to land and building up resources. The NFU-O wants to offer a big thank you to our panelists: Annette Desmarais, Katherine Aske, & Andrea (“Peachtree”) Boucaud!
How to access farmland using cooperative models
This webinar panel digs into how co-operatives in British Columbia are making farmland accessible for sustainable farming. Panelists will discuss why they formed a co-op, what it is all about, what the key challenges are, and how their co-ops are addressing these.
Who Will Feed Us? – Episode 4: Land Access (Part 2)
In this podcast episode, we explore the issues of accessing land that are facing young farmers today. We’re thrilled to hear from Hannah Hunter and Natalie Childs of Agricola Cooperative Farm/Ferme Agricola about their journey accessing land and the principles upon which they run their operation today. Don’t miss this conversation about collaboration, worker’s cooperatives, and the foundational importance of communication and relationship building in strengthening a farm business.
The Future of Farmland in Alberta
The Parkland Institute and the National Farmers Union (NFU) hosted a panel discussion on the future of farmland in Alberta to launch a new report by Katherine Aske. Katherine Aske is a settler and farmworker; she is also the chair of the National Farmers Union’s Farmland Committee.
Katherine was joined by a panel of speakers:
- Annette Aurélie Desmarais, the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty at the University of Manitoba.
- Blake Hall, a first-generation farmer in Alberta.
- Ken Larsen, a farmer producing grains, forages, and cattle west of Red Deer, Alberta for the past 46 years.
Who Will Feed Us? – Episode 3: Land Access (Part 1)
In this podcast episode, we will learn about land access issues, specifically the financialization of growing/farm land with our guest Katherine Aske. We’re going to clarify the difference between valuing land as a financial asset and valuing land by its productivity. Access to farmland is one of the main factors gatekeeping agriculture because of the colonial context, financial challenges, and land grabbing done by speculative investors. Katherine shares findings from her research about land tenure models in the Canadian context.
Alternative Forms of Farmland Tenure with Agrarian Trust
NFU’s Farmland Committee hosts Ian McSweeny, Organizational Director of Agrarian Trust, to discuss the principles of the organization, its history and structure, the work it does creating individual agrarian commons and the commons alliance, and some context on US agriculture and land trusts.
NFU Farmland Committee presents Terre de Liens
Terre de Liens is a civic organization established to assist organic and peasant farmers in gaining access to land in France. The organization also promotes new ways to own and manage land as a common good. Terre de Liens has created financial tools (a solidarity investment company and an endowment trust) to collect investment funds and donations, and educational tools to inform the public and raise awareness about land access and agriculture. It now has a network of 2000 members and 8000 shareholders, and owns 2400 hectares of farmland, supporting about 200 farmers. For more information, see their page on the Access to Land website.
Version français: https://youtu.be/y_V3VTJi9Ow
Connecting farmers and Indigenous land users
Joel Mowchenko manages his family’s organic grain and cattle farm near Mossbank, SK in Treaty 4 Territory. He’s passionate about local food systems and has experimented with various means of getting their farm products directly to local folk including selling to local stores, restaurants, and farmer’s markets, even going so far as to venture into the restaurant business himself. He first connected with the Treaty Land Sharing Network in the fall of 2019 and has since attended several network events, registered his farm with the network, and hosted a native prairie tour in 2020.
NFUniversity: Land Reform Lessons from Scotland
After centuries of a landlord-tenant system dating back to feudal times and the Highland Clearances, a new 2016 law has opened the door for Scottish communities to change their relationship with the land they live on. Balancing human rights and property rights was key to getting The Land Reform (Scotland) Act passed. Dr. Kirsteen Shields will highlight how understanding land tenure through a human rights lens made Scotland’s new approach possible, and what difference this makes for the people and the land. As farmland ownership concentration intensifies and access to land becomes increasingly difficult in Canada, Scotland’s example shows that a more equitable, sustainable, and democratic approach to land is possible.
Version Français: https://youtu.be/JrX6ObSKEk0
Islanders and the Land
In 2016, Don Kossick and Denise Kouri created “Islanders and the Land”, a video documentary of how the people of Prince Edward Island have struggled to keep land in the hands of communities. This documentary speaks to the broader trends of land grabbing and corporate control over agricultural inputs and outputs that pose a massive threat to farm communities in Canada. It shows how we can learn from the people of Prince Edward Island in building a national resistance and alternatives to the industrial agricultural model.
