Ontario company wants to sink money into N.S. agricultural lands

Pro Farm Energy Inc. president Mark Thiessen says his company is looking to lease thousands of acres of agricultural land in hopes of growing enough Miscanthus giganteus to feed a 10-megawatt power plant developed by Minas Basin Pulp and Power Co. Ltd.

Thiessen says little will be expected of landowners with property to spare for a non-invasive perennial that will be nurtured by people on Pro Farm’s payroll, according to an article on the Daily Business Buzz website.

Profarmenergy.com CEO Mike Appelton stands in a field of Miscanthus giganteus. Advertisement

“All they’ll be required to do is price their land and receive a lease payment on an annual basis,” he said. “We’re offering three years (of) rental payments up front and also inflation adjustments annually throughout the term.”

Pro Farm is interested in land in Hants, Kings, Annapolis, Digby, Colchester, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Halifax and Pictou counties.

Borrowed parcels will be returned to the owner in an “agriculture ready state” when Pro Farm’s lease is up, Thiessen noted.

“We’re going to be investing roughly $2,000 per acre of production.”

Nova Scotia Power Inc. has signed on to purchase the green energy generated by the burning of Miscanthus giganteus at the biomass plant.