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New and young farmers throughout B.C. are seeing results and getting agricultural land into production, thanks to the support of regional land matchers and the B.C. Land Matching Program, delivered by Young Agrarians.
“The challenge for young and new farmers entering the agricultural industry is acquiring affordable farmland that they can farm,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture. “Since expanding the B.C. Land Matching Program last summer, we’ve seen successful matches throughout the province, ensuring more B.C. farmland is in production and helping secure our farming industry and food security for future generations.”
After launching as a pilot in Metro Vancouver in 2016, the program expanded across southern B.C. in July 2018. Since 2018, the B.C. Land Matching Program has helped 19 new farmers and farming families connect with landowners in the province to sign farming agreements, with a total of 26.71 hectares (66 acres) brought into, or maintained in, agricultural production. The Province has committed $375,000 in funding to build on the success of the program for the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Land matchers assigned to Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan and Columbia Basin have been working closely with farmers, landowners, local governments and agricultural organizations to help facilitate agreements between farmers and land owners.
Tucked away between orchards and wineries overlooking Powers Creek in West Kelowna, Popham visited Alpine Roots Farm to meet with farmer Eoin Carey and landowners John and Anne Whittall, as well as their land matcher Tessa Wetherill, for a tour of their property. She announced the results of the B.C. Land Matching Program there, as well as additional funding for the program for 2019-20.
The land owners and the farmer signed their lease this past January, and Carey and his family have already started to till the land for what will be a 0.80-hectare (two-acre) market garden, selling to community-supported agriculture members. They also plan to partner with local restaurants throughout Kelowna and the region and are excited to offer chefs the option of having grow-to-order unique, or hard-to-find, varieties of produce.
For the Whittalls, both retired, this was an opportunity to see the agricultural land they own and steward in full production, while allowing them to keep the land’s farm-classification status, which will support them as they age in place on a fixed income.