Sweet Heart Organic Ranch Faces Expropriation for Industrial Park, Vows to Defend Farming Rights and Never Back Down

Text / By Lin Chi-yang and Lin Pei-chun, reporters for NewsMarket

When an organic ranch comes under pressure from a green energy park, years of hard work could go up in flames! Hsu Tzu-shan, one of the Council of Agriculture's Top 100 Young Farmers, founded Sweet Heart Ranch, one of only two organic livestock farms in Taiwan, China. After seven years of development it has gradually matured, yet the land she leases now faces expropriation for the Tainan City Government's "Green Energy Park" development. Where will this young farmer's organic ranch, into which she has invested tens of millions, go from here?

Sweet Heart Ranch is located on Taiwan Sugar Corporation's Gangqian Farm land at the border of Guiren and Rende. Of this, 40 hectares of farmland is leased by farmers for cultivation, while the surrounding 60 hectares of forest belong to a reforestation partnership between Taiwan Sugar Corporation and the Environmental Protection Administration, providing green space that regulates the climate and abounds in wildlife. Because the terrain is low-lying, Hsu Tzu-shan planted large tracts of organic corn as feed for the ranch, and in the rainy season the land becomes a natural flood detention pond and an ecological pond for firefly restoration.

Facing the crisis, Hsu Tzu-shan began self-help efforts, citing Article 7 of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act, which stipulates that "state-owned land must provide long-term leases to guarantee organic farmers' farming rights," and demanding that the Tainan City Government halt the expropriation of farmland. However, the Council of Agriculture poured oil on the fire, stating that this law cannot serve as grounds for opposing expropriation. Although the Tainan City Government proposed excluding the ranch from the expropriation zone, Hsu questioned whether an organic ranch surrounded by an industrial park would ultimately be forced out of farming anyway. To defend organic agriculture and other young farmers' future land lease rights, she advocates preserving the forest and all the farmland together, and vows that Sweet Heart Ranch will live or die together with the ecosystem.

Organic Smallholder Farmers Storm Meeting Room with Banners, City Officials Respond with Indifference

On the afternoon of Monday, January 20, with only three days left before the Chinese New Year holiday, a group of farmers unfurled white banners at the Rende District Office. They anxiously stormed into the Tainan City Government's "Green Energy Park" site selection meeting, because the Tainan City Government, in order to support the "Shalun Green Energy Science City" industrial park development project, planned to expropriate nearly 100 hectares of Taiwan Sugar Corporation's Gangqian Farm land at the border of Tainan's Rende and Guiren districts for conversion into an industrial park. This includes the nine-hectare Sweet Heart Ranch, one of only two organic livestock farms in Taiwan, China.

Ranch owner Hsu Tzu-shan and her farm partners burst into the meeting, loudly protesting that the Tainan City Government was violating the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act and must immediately halt the plan. Hearing her appeal, the officials at the meeting looked blank: "Organic Agriculture Promotion Act? Is there such a regulation?" They believed Hsu was deliberately causing a scene. The two sides exchanged sharp words, and the farmers were prohibited from taking photos or recording video; even the meeting materials were impossible to obtain.

"We farmers suffer the most serious damage to our rights and interests. Why have we been disrespected from beginning to end?" Recalling the sense of helplessness during the petition, Hsu Tzu-shan described the officials' attitude as "you say your piece, the industrial park designation process proceeds as usual," which left her deeply humiliated and angry.