LONDON, ONT. -- There are new developments in the simmering dispute between Norfolk County farmers and their local medical officer of health.

Some of the farmers have retained legal counsel and have a hearing before an appeal board to ensure the playing field is level across the province.

But according to Jason Ryder, the damage has already been done.

"It's too late to recover the loss out of Norfolk," says Ryder from his farm in Lynedoch, Ont.

Ryder says 36 acres of his asparagus will be left unharvested.

"There is definitely going to be a 30 to 40 per cent reduction just on my operation of products going to the shelves this summer."

Some of those farmers are blaming part of that loss on the local health unit.

They have retained Lerners Lawyers to push back against Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, the medical officer of health for Haldimand-Norfolk County who went above and beyond federal and provincial guidelines.

"De. Nesathurai has gone ahead and issued an additional section 22 order," says Andrea Plumb, a partner with Lerners Laywers LLP.

"It limits the number of foreign workers in a bunkhouse to three, with no regard to size of bunkhouse."

Brett Schuyler is one of the farmers who has retained council. He doesn't understand why they need to have these additional measures in place.

"For example, one of my accommodations is 4400 square feet," says Schuyler who has lost 72 acres of asparagus.

"We have six separate bedrooms, seven toilets, eight showers...and we're told that's a three-person accommodation. Because of that, I only have 30 of my 103 workers.

Plumb says the fact that Norfolk is the only county to be impacted by this order, creates an unfair playing field.

 

"It means you can have a farm on one side of the road in Noforlk County which is subjected to these restrictions and economic impacts , and you can cross the road to say Elgin County who isn't restricted by this order," says Plumb.

Ryder says a lack of consultation with farmers is taking a devastating toll on people’s lives. He feels they were prepared to offer input and advice surrounding the order, but that hasn't happened.

"I feel like we are on the team, but we haven't been asked once to play," says Ryder. "We are being benched on this whole situation."

Both Ryder and Schuyler have tried to reach out to Dr. Nesathurai but their calls have gone unanswered. So they turned to legal action.

"We had to take steps to request a hearing before the health service appeal review board," says Nathalie Carrothers, a lawyer with Lerners LLP who is working on this case.

"That hearing is scheduled to take place at the end of May, and it's a five-day hearing."

Their goal is to get this order removed, so farmers in the Haldimand-Norfolk region can continue operations, and ensure food security in the province.

CTV News reached out the Dr. Shanker Nesathurai Saturday but received no response.