Max Kaiser

The applicant sought a determination under the Farming and Food Production Protection Act that his clear-cutting of five acres of woodland, which contravened a municipal woodland conservation by-law, constituted a normal farm practice.

The Normal Farm Practices Protection Board dismissed the application, finding that the applicant failed to prove the land had been returned to a pre-existing agricultural use.

Furthermore, the Board held that because the subject property was zoned Natural Environment (NE1 or NE2), agricultural uses were not permitted, precluding a finding that the clear-cutting was a normal farm practice.

The applicant filed a complaint regarding noxious odors and excessive flies emanating from rotting hay bales stored by the respondent dairy farmers near their shared property line.

The Normal Farm Practices Protection Board found that the odors constituted a disturbance and that the respondents failed to prove the storage location was a normal farm practice.

However, the Board found insufficient evidence to establish a disturbance caused by flies.

The Board ordered the respondents to cease storing hay or straw within 100 meters of the applicant's residence.