The idea for creating the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT) emerged at a workshop on farmland preservation hosted by the University of Guelph's Centre for Land and Water Stewardship and Carolinian Canada in 2002. Here, both farm and conservation groups came together to examine farmland loss in Ontario and to ask whether a land trust dedicated to protecting farmland would be a positive step forward for the province. The workshop attracted far more participants than expected, and there emerged a strong agreement that both further research to document patterns of farmland loss and the establishment of a land trust to focus public attention were desirable steps to take.

The group that helped to establish the Farmland Trust recognized in the beginning that it would be necessary to focus activities on issues related to farmland, farming, and farmers. It is not enough to preserve farmland if the farming community who farms that land is not equally supported.

In 2004 OFT became an incorporated non-profit organization and gained charitable status, diverging from the university-based research program where it originated. Since then OFT has focused on building the organization according to Canadian Land Trust Alliance Standards and Practices, pioneering farmland protection through a land trust model, and building strong working relationships with Ontario's major farm organizations and government agencies. We have appeared at numerous farm meetings, key annual meetings and farm shows, and have hosted several major farmland preservation conferences. In 2007, we published Farmland Preservation: Land for Future Generations, an important book for the conservation community, based on these events. We have also had significant input to government policy, and now are sought out for advice by a number of agencies.

The OFT handles numerous requests from private landowners interested in agricultural easements or land donations, and meetings with both municipal and provincial government agencies are ongoing, always directed at strengthening efforts to protect farmland in southern Ontario.