Saving farmland or building more homes? This is one town's struggle to do both

Kevin Ross jumps out of his combine and runs to pull the tarp over the grain trailer full of canola that he has just harvested as rain comes down in sheets.

When he started farming 40 years ago, he knew the weather was going to be unpredictable. What he couldn't have predicted is the rate at which farmland in southern Ontario would disappear. 

"We are losing farmland around all the small towns in the county and we are not going to get that back," he said. 

Ontario loses more than 300 acres of farmland a day and farmers across the province have  been sounding the alarm as the conversation around the need for housing gets louder. 

Researchers have projected Windsor-Essex will need more than 30,000 homes by 2031. 

The Town of Essex's mayor said they need the housing now as the small municipality grows by a couple thousand people every year. 

"Particularly in Essex Ward 1, we have reached our settlement boundaries for residential development and almost our industrial development as well," said Sherry Bondy. 

Bondy said the last remaining plot of land is currently being built on and there is no room left to grow. 

"We are definitely at a crossroads," she said. 

The town is looking at all infilling options but is also evaluating certain pieces of agricultural land that make sense for urban or industrial sprawl while minimizing the impact of tearing up farmland.

There's also the prospect of building up, instead of out. 

Bondy said it's become a contentious conversation in small, rural towns like Essex. 

"Going up changes neighborhoods so it comes with a lot of resistance but is something that is necessary to accommodate all of our residents," she said. 

Paul Demczak, an urban planner that does work across southern Ontario, knows it's a challenging conversation to have — changing the landscape of small towns that have largely remained unchanged over decades.