Those who opposed the Highland Companies mega quarry proposal got some surprising news this week when it was announced that Highland had sold its 6,500 acres of Melancthon property to Bonnefield Canadian Farmland LP, an investment partnership whose slogan is “farmland for farming.”
“We are pleased to close this transaction with Bonnefield and believe it represents a good outcome for all parties,” said John Scherer of Highland, which will now lease the land back from Bonnefield and continue farming potatoes.
“The Dufferin County transaction is the realization of a long-held dream,” said Tom Eisenhauer, president of Bonnefield. “Here we have Canadian investors, supporting Canadian farmers to ensure that one of our most precious resources – farmland – continues to be used for farming. We look forward to working with local farmers who will operate this land on a long-term basis and to ensure that it is preserved and enhanced for farming use.”
Bonnefield has secured about 35,000 acres of farmland in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick since its inception in April of 2010. That doesn’t include the recent purchase in Melancthon.
According to Bonnefield’s website, Canadian farmland has produced attractive total returns for at least 50 years and continues to offer investors an attractive return, excellent capital preservation, low risk and broad portfolio diversification. With farmers facing increased need for capital-intensive operations and larger tracts of farmland, there is more and more interest in the long-term leasing of agricultural land rather than ownership.
The North Dufferin Agricultural Community Taskforce (NDACT), which led the fight that caused Highlands to withdraw its aggregate application, is cautiously optimistic that Bonnefield is legitimately interested in agricultural operations only. The group continues to lobby the provincial government for stricter land-use restrictions in the Aggregate Resources Act, which is now under review.
“We knew it was up for sale,” NDACT chair Carl Cosack told the Orangeville Banner. “Ownership has never really been the crucial part. It has always been what they do with it.”