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Matching farmers and landowners in the Basin
Are you a farmer looking for land? Are you a landowner looking for farmers? Join us to network, talk farm leases, and learn about how the B.C. Land Matching Program is connecting landowners with farmers in the Columbia Basin!
On October 27, from 1 – 6 p.m., Young Agrarians will host a Columbia Basin Land Link in Creston.
Land Linking events are a combination of education on the ins and outs of accessing land (options like leasing and licensing land) with social networking to connect landowners and land seekers. Landowners from across the Columbia Basin are encouraged to come, as well as farmers who are interested in farming in the area, whether you’re growing veggies, raising animals, starting an orchard, keeping bees, or more!
“Our goal is to create opportunities for people with land and people looking for land to connect with each other,” says Young Agrarians Land Program Manager Darcy Smith. “The Land Link is an avenue for us to share important resources, like our B.C. Land Access Guide, educate farmers and landowners about land agreements, and raise awareness about the B.C. Land Matching Program.”
In the Columbia Basin, Young Agrarians provides an online and searchable inventory of B.C. land opportunities, personalized and regionally based matchmaking services for new farmers and landowners, including referrals to business and technical support services, and educational events and resources to increase knowledge and facilitate matches between new farmers and landowners.
Why? Aspiring farmers face a wide range of barriers to getting established, from limited training options to the high cost of farmland. Land in the Columbia Basin averages a considerable price tag of $50,000 per acre, according to Farm Credit Canada’s 2017 Farmland Values Report. It’s no surprise why access to land is one of the biggest barriers new farmers face, and why leasing land has become a popular solution that enables young entrepreneurs to start small businesses and put more land into production.
The 2016 Canadian Census of Agriculture shows a loss of 116 farms in the Kootenay region from 2011 figures. These regional declines reflect the same provincial trends from 19,759 farms in 2011 to 17,528 farms in 2016, and in the area of land under production: B.C. lost 21,172 hectares of farmland from 2011-2016. The average age of farm operators in the Kootenays is 57 years old. This exceeds both the provincial (56) and national (55) averages.
This all points to the urgent need to increase local food production, increase local economic development, and support new entrants into agriculture across the Columbia Basin. The Basin is seeing more and more farms selling directly to the public through farm gate sales and farmers’ markets, with more than a dozen seasonal markets in communities across the Basin.
And there’s clearly a demand: 75% of residents in the Basin-Boundary regions prefer to buy locally-produced food and more than two-thirds would pay extra for local, says a report from the Columbia Basin Trust. Considering that 95% of the food consumed in the Basin-Boundary region is imported from other regions, provinces or countries, there is expansion potential for local producers and processors.
For landowners, the benefits of leasing out land to a farmer may include tax incentives, seeing land become – or stay – productive, improvements to land and soil health, being able to take on less management of the land themselves, new relationships, and, of course, fresh veggies and other farm fresh products!
The Columbia Basin Land Link workshop will be held from 1 – 6 p.m. on October 27, in the Creston Room of the Creston & District Community Complex.
The event is free – for more information and to register or call 250-212-5016.
For more information about the B.C. Land Matching program, visit youngagrarians.org/land.
This event is made possible with funding provided by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Columbia Basin Trust.
About Young Agrarians: Young Agrarians, a partnership with FarmFolk CityFolk Society, is a B.C.-based young farmer network, that hosts events to support the transition of farmland to the next generation. Young Agrarians’ work involves advocacy for innovations like regional farmland trusts and practical, short-term strategies like “matchmaking” land seekers and landowners.
Young Agrarians
