Former oil industry worker says his sustainable farm is being stifled by red tape
Darrell Roberts | CBC News | Posted: March 9, 2023 9:30 AM | Last Updated: March 9, 2023
Adam Furlong says he's spent years trying to buy 1.1 acres of Crown land bordering his property
A former oil worker says the provincial Crown Lands division has stymied his plans for a sustainable farm in a rural Newfoundland community.
When Adam Furlong decided to purchase a house and 2.2 acres of land in Bloomfield, a small community on the Bonavista Peninsula, he thought he'd found the perfect place to expand his farming business.
"It's … a sustainable, biointensive, regenerative approach to farming that you can produce a lot of food on a small land base," he told CBC News.
As a child, Furlong said, he learned about growing food from his father and grandfather, and had dreamed about one day starting his own farm. After a decade working in the oil industry, he was ready to make that dream a reality.
Furlong and his wife sold their home and got ready to move to Bloomfield — but then the trouble started.
"A week before we were supposed to be closing on this real estate deal and moving out here, Crown Lands stepped in and said that they owned the vast majority of the land, which actually included part of the house," he said.
The owners of the home, caught in a legal battle with the Crown Lands division, couldn't sell the house or the land, said Furlong, but they allowed his family to rent the home.
"We spent almost exactly a year in the house, renting it, with no idea what the future was going to hold if we were ever going to be able to own the house or the land or what we were going to do with our family and with the business," he said.
Furlong said Crown Lands eventually relinquished about half the property — allowing him to purchase his home, but ruining his expansion plans, which he says would more than double his output.
For more than two years, Furlong said, he's been trying to get answers from the provincial government about the status of the land — and on whether he can buy it.
"It's extremely stressful, like mentally, emotionally and financially stressful," he said. "I have not had one day in the last — at least — 2½ years where I have not had that land and Crown Lands problems on my mind."
Furlong's current operation is limited to a small, heated indoor garden and two greenhouses operational in the summer months.
'Orphaned land'
He said he got a call in January from provincial Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture Minister Derrick Bragg, offering an agricultural lease on the land — with the caveat that Furlong give up part of his existing 1.1 acres of land for an access route.
"They're basically asking me to give up legal right to my own legally owned land," he said.
Due to sight line requirements on the road along its border, Furlong said, the land, covered in dense trees and vegetation, isn't accessible except through his own property — it's considered "orphaned land."
"The land is literally inaccessible and unusable for any reason, by anyone, but I live right next door — so obviously, I have very easy access to it, but they will not let me buy it," he said.
In a statement, Fisheries Forestry and Agriculture spokesperson Linda Skinner confirmed the provincial government does not sell Crown land for agriculture, but said farmers can apply for agricultural leases at $4 per hectare for 50 years.
"These leases are one of the best mechanisms the provincial government has to protect agricultural land and ensure it continues being used for agricultural purposes into the future. If a farmer wants to own farmland, they always have the option to purchase land from private land owners," said Skinner.
Furlong says his experience flies in the face of the provincial government's professed support of the agricultural industry and food security.
In a press release issued last fall about the province's food self-sufficiency, the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture referenced government support for farmers, including agriculture.
"Department staff continue to work closely with farmers and producers to offer advice and support on all aspects of farming, from primary production and food safety to farm business management," said the release.
A larger problem
Greg French, a real estate lawyer and Crown Lands expert in Clarenville, said in general, the provincial government's practice of issuing agricultural leases helps stop farm land from being redeveloped for other purposes.
"The agricultural policy as a whole is not necessarily a bad thing, but the way they've approached it in his case is … jaw-dropping," French said.
French represented the former owners of the home during their battle with Crown Lands and has been watching Furlong's case since.
"This is land that was long recognized as private property. There are deeds on this back to the 1970s with affidavits back to the early 1950s," he said.
"The government imposing an agricultural condition on this is ignoring the records at the registry of deeds and the registered title of the previous owners."
French said Furlong's experience speaks to a larger issue with the laws governing Crown Lands in Newfoundland and Labrador.
"I don't know how someone is supposed to develop anything in Newfoundland when we have a government taking such a hostile view toward private land ownership and development," he said.
In January, the provincial government held public consultations regarding proposed changes to the legislation governing Crown Lands in Newfoundland and Labrador.