While the search for residential property affordability in the Lower Mainland drags on, the search for ways to preserve farmland’s economic viability in the region deserves more attention than it’s getting.
The BC NDP government has appointed a review committee to update Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) policies. That is good. Many of those policies need revision, and many of the properties now in the ALR need objective and non-partisan re-
evaluation to ensure that viable farmland is protected from speculative development and property with little or no agricultural value can be put to more productive use.
As with many real estate sectors in B.C., especially in the Metro Vancouver and South Coast region, farmland is under extreme development pressure. Land costs are eroding the financial viability of farming and preventing a new generation of farmers from entering the market. That is not good for the region’s future food security. Farm Credit Canada’s most recent Farmland Values Report shows a continued escalation in farmland values in B.C.’s South Coast region, where average farmland value was up 13.9% in 2017 to just over $89,000 per acre compared with 2016. That follows a 17.7% increase the previous year.
Meanwhile, a Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry study released earlier this year included several recommendations aimed at improving farmer access to farmland and farmer financial viability and profitability in the face of accelerated farmland acquisition across the country. The recommendations include increasing lifetime capital gains exemptions for farm property and promoting the co-ordination of federal and provincial government initiatives to protect and promote the use of land for agriculture.
Growing Concern: How to Keep Farmland in the Hands of Canadian Farmers illustrates the importance of preserving Canada’s farmland culture on a number of fronts.
As with other small businesses in Canada, the family farm is integral to the business backbone and social fabric of the country. It is fundamental to nourishing the nation and its enterprise.
