4 Smaller than small


“It is easy to build a home on a quarter-acre of flat farmland, but once it is lost to farming there is no new quarter-acre to take its place.” So this paper reported regional planner Peter Oberlander observing in


1953. Twenty years later, watching the ongoing sale, subdivision and development of the province’s agricultural land, the province established the Agricultural Land Reserve. Many farmers at the time saw it as taking away their property rights. Today, thanks in part to the landmark work of Moura Quayle to define the


provincial interest in the reserve in 1998, it’s a cherished part of the BC landscape. Sure, many developers continue to see its unused portions as ideal for development, but small-lot farmers? Yet that’s exactly what’s been unfolding in recent months, most recently in a June 17 meeting of farmers institute members on Vancouver Island. Small- scale producers and their neighbours went so far as to say new provisions limiting residential uses in the ALR were contributing to the province’s housing crisis. It’s the kind of thing you expect to hear from developers, not growers. How did we get here, especially among the kind of people who typically


support farmland preservation? According to critics of what’s been taking place, it’s the top-down nature of the changes. Convinced of the righteousness of it’s mission, the government has proceeded full-steam with the changes it feels are needed. Several initiatives reverse the policies of the previous government, while others draw on the results of a public consultation held last year. Yet the recommendations of that consultation were, often as not, released


after the changes began. The optics suggested that public opinion was an afterthought, although the agriculture minister has told the legislature that she had been briefed on the initial findings and took them into account. But, facing criticism, the agriculture minister and her staff are also alleged


to have shut out critics. Recent statements from the minister suggest the previous government is to blame for the issues, as if forgetting that the premier gave her a mandate to “revitalize the Agriculture Land Reserve and the Agricultural Land Commission” and “help young farmers access land.” Are the issues farmers and rural landowners raising beyond the scope of that mandate? Two years ago this month, the government took office, telling its ministers,


“British Columbians expect our government to work together to advance the public good. That means seeking out, fostering, and advancing good ideas regardless of which side of the house they come from.” The issues facing agriculture are much larger than any one voter, industry or government. Many small farmers get their start thanks to diverse sources of funding, then piece together the income they need to keep going: off-farm jobs, consulting work, direct sales and agri-tourism. The work of farming draws on networks larger than the farm itself. This is something many expected this government to recognize. By missing the bigger picture, it risks putting forth a vision for agriculture smaller than some of its smallest farms.


The ups (and downs) of sustainable agriculture Ours is an industry of ups and downs, clearly illustrated by a spate of recent


statistics. What’s up? Land prices, according to Farm Credit Canada’s annual report


released in May. Land values increased in 2018 by 6.6% across the country. In BC, the increase was 6.7%. The highest increase in the nation was on Vancouver Island where farmland values grew by 21.7% to an average of more than $50,000 per acre. In the Okanagan prices rose by 6.4% and the average acre of agricultural land sold for nearly


The Back Forty BOB COLLINS


$98,000. (FCC determines values after eliminating the highest 5% and the lowest 5% of reported sales.) What’s down? Realized net farm income, according to numbers released by Statscan in June. In 2018, BC farms and ranches generated total farm receipts of $3.45 billion, up from $3.25 billion in 2017. On the downside, farmers realized a net loss of $42.28 million, which was up from the loss of $28.5 million in 2017, which was down from the loss of $35.1 million in 2016. Up and down tend to get very confusing when negative numbers enter the equation but the bottom line is agriculture in BC realized net losses exceeding $1 billion over the last three years. What else is up? Temperatures. In early June, temperature records were set in 18 BC communities. Twelve of them exceeded 30° C. In March, 36 records were broken. There is an undeniable trend to hotter days and more of them. What else is down? Precipitation – in most of the province. In the Comox


Valley and Campbell River, BC Hydro reservoirs are at their lowest levels since records began 33 years ago. Rainfall levels are less than 50% of normal and


electrical generation has been curtailed to less than 20% of capacity. Stage 3 water restrictions were declared on Vancouver Island in early June. On the Cowichan River, efforts to rescue salmon smolts stranded by low water levels were underway in May. We tend to perceive “up” as a positive, as in “things are looking up.” Up and


down are not necessarily good or bad and can go either way depending on how you look at it. Land prices are up. Good, if you happen to be selling the farm or ranch, and hard to argue with when you consider that the land equity is all many farmers and ranchers have to show for a lifetime of hard work. For most of them, land is their pension plan. All that rising equity might come in handy at the bank, too, if you need to


scare up some operating capital. According to the 2016 census, there are 17,500 farms in BC. If we divide the 2018 net realized income by that many farms, we find the average operation went in the hole nearly $25,000, on top of the $36,000 lost in 2016 and 2017. Rising land prices won’t be good news for those trying to find their way into the industry or anyone hoping to expand. On the other hand, the absence of any realized net farm income won’t be good news to anyone. And it will be hard to find any upside to increasing temperatures and decreasing water levels.


While this is by no means a comprehensive list of the ups and downs every rancher and farmer in the province deals with daily, the issue of negative realized net farm income should be a wake-up call for every member of the government claiming to support agriculture. It takes money to live, it takes money to operate and it takes money to


innovate. Without it, sustainable agriculture is a pipe dream. Bob Collins raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni


Valley. Publisher Cathy Glover


The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 Vol.105 No.7 . JULY 2019


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