Agriculture

Agriculture overview
ARAC - objectives for agriculture
Agricultural burn permits
Biosolids
Farm equipment on the highway
Nutrient management

Agriculture overview

As identified in Ottawa’s 20/20 economic strategy, as many as 10,000 jobs in the City’s overall economy are directly and indirectly related to agriculture. Farmland occupies about 40 per cent of the municipality's rural lands. Close to 300,000 acres is farmed by almost 1,300 agricultural operations. Located on these extensive areas of good soil - totalling more than 120,000 hectares - is a mixture of cash crop and livestock farms producing agricultural products with a value in 2006 of over $164 million.

In addition to cash-crop operations and livestock, other agriculture related businesses include nurseries, tree farms, beekeeping, farm supply businesses, veterinarians, agronomists and specialty niche operations often relating to the agri-tourism industry.

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ARAC - objectives for agriculture

The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee’s (ARAC) objectives for the agriculture sector are:

• to support and encourage the appropriate and sustainable use of the land base for agriculture, forestry and recreation, and actively encourage the establishment and prosperity of farms and related businesses;
• to identify and promote specialty-type agricultural operations and businesses such as woodlots, hydroponics, greenhouses, orchards, nurseries, etc;
• to identify ways to promote an understanding of the rural and agricultural communities and their issues;
• to encourage the use of best practices in nutrient management in association with the rural areas and agricultural industry;
• to encourage the establishment of agricultural operations that are compatible with the quality of life in the rural areas and existing agricultural operations; and
• to encourage strong linkages between the City and federal, provincial, and local research facilities in order to benefit from new applications in the agriculture sector.

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Agricultural burn permits

If you are applying for an Annual Agricultural Burn Permit, you must provide a copy of your Farm Business Registration Number at the time of application. If you are not the owner of the property, you must provide written authorization from the landowner giving you permission to apply for a permit for that location. This permit will allow you to burn windrows fires overnight from Monday to Friday. These types of fires are usually left to burn for days at a time due to their size (i.e. 50 metres in length, 5 metres in width and 3 metres in height) and require supervision at all times. For more information on Annual Agricultural Burn Permits, or on windrows fires, please contact the City of Ottawa at 3-1-1. Additional details including fees and locations to get a permit can be found on the general open air fire permit Web page.

Each year in Canada, there are approximately 800 fire-related deaths. Many of these occur on farms. Ottawa Fire Services provides safety rules for the prevention of farm fires.

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Biosolids

In 2004, Council approved the application of biosolids on agricultural land. The land application program is carried out in accordance with the Best Management Practices established by the City's Medical Officer of Health, and provincial laws and regulations (Ontario and Quebec). For more information refer to Biosolids Management in Ottawa.

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Farm equipment on the highway

Ministry of Transportation – Farm Guide
This guide has been developed to provide general information and clarification for the laws that apply to farm equipment and select provisions that apply to farm trucks.

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Nutrient management

For information on nutrient management and grant opportunities to help offset compliance costs, refer to the livestock information page.

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