Young Agrarians (YA) is a farmer-to-farmer educational resource network for new and young ecological, organic and regenerative farmers in Canada. With the average age of farmers in B.C. being 56, higher than the national average, and the province losing 1,687 farms between 2016 and 2021, a loss of 10%, the programs YA offers seek to support those wanting to farm and already farming. In B.C., YA offers on and off-farm educational events, business mentorships, and land access programming through the B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP).
“The B.C. Land Matching Program has made our entire farming enterprise possible. Between matching us with the perfect hosts, navigating our land lease agreement and resourcing us through many difficulties, the Land Matcher’s services have proven invaluable as we’ve grown our farm over the last four years.” – Brian and Krista, Zero Fox Tree Crops
In the land matching process, we first receive inquiries from interested landholders and land seekers and provide program information. For those that feel the program is a fit for them, we register them as participants and request that they complete profiles on the U-Map that can be easily shared. Once an introduction and potentially a match is made, we support in the process of negotiating a written agreement. Land sharing agreements that do not end up being signed are just as important as the ones that are when speaking in terms of risk mitigation for both parties.
Since the BCLMP launched in the Kootenays in August 2018, 28 matches between landholders and land seekers have been supported, representing just under 200 acres, of a total of 240 matches across the province. There are more agreements in the works and an expanding land opportunity inventory in the region. In this same period, almost just as many agreements were negotiated and did not move forward or became informal agreements whereby the parties did not want a written agreement in place after all.
Most agreements in the Kootenays that have been supported and signed are for mixed vegetable production and hay production, though a few have been done for operations like a fruit and nut tree nursery, a cherry orchard, foraging, wild mushrooms, herbs, garlic and hemp. Land seeking farmers not yet matched are also actively looking for land to rotationally graze livestock, grow outdoor hemp and cannabis, grow herbs for added value products and more.
To date, there are 121 land opportunities listed on the YA U-Map in the Kootenays and a land opportunity blog with current regional listings. These listings represent only a percentage of the inquiries from the almost 300 people who have reached out with questions about sharing their land but are not interested in hands-on support, are not yet ready to share their land or perhaps don’t understand the financial challenges of running a farming business and don’t yet have a realistic idea of what the land can yield in terms of lease rates.
The same goes for land seeking farmers registered for program support; almost 400 land seekers have inquired about land in the Kootenays since 2018. Though many people inquire about land matching or lease agreements, only a percentage will continue on to access land through the program. This could be because they are still developing their idea and not yet ready to start their business, are still looking for financing or saving money, need to gain some hands-on experience first or live elsewhere and need housing to relocate, for example.
We provide resources, education, referrals and 1:1 support with business plans as land seekers work towards launching or expanding their businesses on leased or licensed land. We also organize community and educational events like farm tours and Land Socials to get the word out about these offerings, connect current and aspiring farmers, landholders and local food lovers and learn from the inspiring farm hosts.
Read on to learn more about the current land access context in this region, what you can do to support local food production and some farms supported through the program.
The Why: Land Access
Land access is currently the number one barrier for new and young farmers. In 2020, the Kootenay region recorded the most significant upward trend in farmland value in BC, with an average increase of 28.1%. In 2021, farmland values in B.C. increased 18.1%, the second highest in Canada after Ontario, with the Kootenay region seeing a further average increase of 9.8%. This growth is largely attributed to increased internal migration during the pandemic (Farmland Values Report, 2020-2021). That’s an increase in value of almost 40% in just two years.
According to the Farmland Values Report, “historically, smaller parcels of land sold at higher per acre prices. The price gap between larger and smaller parcels appears to be getting narrower in many areas. Limited supply and high demand are factors that influenced farmland values in the province.” You can learn more about Farmland Values here.
When we speak to sector barriers, land prices and implications on housing supply go hand-in-hand. Most people who inquire about farming in the Kootenays are also looking for housing on the land, since long distances and mountain passes separate most urban centres. There are more land opportunities than housing availability so most land seeking farmers who reach out for program support to farm in this region and are not yet living here are told that they should first find housing in the community they want to farm in and then look for land nearby.
Whereas before “affordable” housing may have been the issue, now accessing any kind of housing is a struggle, and rentals on properties with land to farm are generally $1000-$2000 per month, which is too high for most new farmers. As a result, more and more land seekers are looking to move onto land in trailers, RVs, yurts or tiny houses but things like zoning, accessibility in the winter or a lack of services in the area may present challenges. We have heard that some people have paid upwards of $400-$600 per month for off-grid pad rentals on rural land here. What this means is that, today, what a farmer or farming family would have paid a few years ago for a rental home is now what it costs them to just rent a “spot to park” on someone else’s land.
We are currently experiencing the highest inflation rates in the last 30 years, high feed prices, high food prices, high gas prices and a 30-50% increase in land prices in the region in the past two years – the impacts of this are being felt deeply by new and young farmers, whether they own and/or lease land, or those hoping to get onto land at all.
It is an increasing sentiment among land-seeking farmers who reach out and who are not (yet) landholders themselves that getting “into the market” in any way now feels less attainable than even a few short years ago. This trend reflects the increasing barriers to access for new and young farmers as everything, including land, becomes more expensive. As a result, there are many farmers who reach out about land access while asking about funding, grants and more accessible or lower interest loans to get started or scale up, which we cover in this article.
The outlook for farmers who aspire to own their own land seems challenging at the moment, but speaks to the incredible need for land matching support and policies to address and mitigate sector barriers like the externalities and impacts of an inflated land value bubble, which inevitably lead to landholders needing to turn secondary housing into vacation rentals to pay their increasingly high mortgages and property taxes, which is happening in both urban and rural settings.
Anecdotally, a few young farmers I’ve worked with have secured their land through establishing and nurturing a good relationship with a community member or landlord they’d previously rented from. This speaks to the need to build relationships in community so that local community members with the ability to buy and stay have the first right of refusal when properties are about to go onto the market, especially when they’ve been farming there as tenants.
In a time in B.C. when the average home (not necessarily even with any land to cultivate) costs more than one million dollars (reported in January 2022), there are also more conversations and questions around sharing resources and transitioning land in creative ways, collaboration and cooperative farming and co-ownership, which we dive into in this Toolkit published on the YA website.
When land and real estate are being purchased sight-unseen and for thousands above the asking price, collaborative efforts on behalf of land seeking farmers will need to coincide with a general desire by landholders to see their land as places of food production and community building and not just as investments.
The How: What Can We Do Now?
With some compromise and creative solutions, hopefully we will see more land shared and transitioned to those who desire to see that land at its best and live in harmony with it, producing local healthy food from it and with it, and with one another in their communities.
Indeed, a community-based approach to local food production will require all members of our communities, which may look a lot different now than they did a few years ago – and that’s okay -, to feel like they are an active part of it and want to work with it and for the members of it.
This could mean going to a Farmers Market or farm stand and choosing local when possible, subscribing to a CSA for a weekly produce box, sharing land through the BCLMP or with friends, transitioning farmland to local farmers, planting perennial food producing trees and bushes, sharing farm tools or time, volunteering with a local organization that supports producers or growing veggies in your backyard for a few families nearby.
Focusing on collaboration and cooperation, which will look and feel different for everyone and in every community, is more fundamental now than ever before.
If you’re looking for land to grow your farm and food project or have land you’d like to share, you can take a first step by reaching out to hailey@youngagrarians.org, the regional Land Matcher for the BCLMP in the Kootenay/Columbia Basin region.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the program since its launch in this region. Now in our fourth year delivering land matching in the Kootenay/Columbia Basin region, we are seeing farms matched early in the program develop into thriving businesses and assets to their communities, turning their seeds into sales. Check out some stories of farmers that have been supported in their land search or agreement through the program.
The Who: Meet Some Local Farmers
Zero Fox Tree Crops
Zero Fox Tree Crops was matched to 2 acres of land in Harrop in 2019. Heading into the fifth season of running their bare root nut and fruit tree nursery, Zero Fox Tree Crops is hard at work at expanding production and their product list! Website sales for the coming year will start in December with over 40 types of plants and 18 types of seed for sale. They are hard at work on helpful articles for customers and plant enthusiasts. After a crazy fall in terms of weather with a record hot October and early winter, Brian and Krista are playin’ in the snow, roasting chestnuts, cracking walnuts and eating frozen berries.
Learn more about Zero Fox Tree Crops in this blog post!
Website: www.zerofoxtreecrops.com
Linden Lane Farms
Linden Lane Farms has been supported with two leases through the BCLMP on 2 acres in Shore Acres and 3.5 acres in Tarrys, both properties within 10 minutes drive from the main farm site in Krestova. Linden Lane Farms is located on a multi-generational family-operated farm, situated at the southern mouth of the Slocan Valley. The farm is 150 acres consisting of a mixture of forest, pasture and fields on amazing sandy-loam soil. On this land, Matt and his family, along with a growing team of staff, produces vegetables, small fruits and nursery plants that they sell online, at local farmers’ markets, grocery stores, and through their CSA.
“The BC Land Matching Program has allowed us to expand our operations by helping us find and secure suitable land for our crop production needs. By mediating between landholders and farmers, this program has taken a lot of worry off of both parties to create mutually beneficial agreements. We looked into leasing land as we are constrained by water use on our main farm as a way to increase vegetable production in the short term while saving up to improve our water system. Ultimately our leases have allowed us to produce nearly 30% more product than two years ago, a success for both the business and our customers dependent on local food.” – Matt Carr, Owner of Linden Lane Farms
Check out some photos from our Land Social and Tool School event last fall at Linden Lane!
Website: www.lindenlanefarms.ca
Confluence Farms
Emily and Nathan of Confluence Farms were matched to a turn-key operation in the Slocan Valley two seasons ago for their market garden and added-value food delivery business. They work with over 10 other local farms to distribute local food to their customers. Having recently relocated to another leased plot in Pass Creek, the farmers are excited to head into their third farming season in the Kootenays.
Check them out in this Shaw TV Mini-Documentary filmed this past fall!
Website: www.confluencefarms.ca
Emerald Grove
Ryan of Emerald Grove leases 2 acres of land in Winlaw for his market garden business, providing his produce direct-to-consumer and through collaborating with other nearby farmers. Heading into his second season of production on the land, Ryan is spending his winter participating in the YA Business Mentorship Program, working on business and crop planning as he prepares for his first season of full-time farming at Emerald Grove! When he’s not busy preparing for the upcoming year, you can find him enjoying some downtime cross country skiing on the nearby rail trail.
The B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP) is supported primarily by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food and regionally by Columbia Basin Trust and the Real Estate Foundation of B.C.
Reach out to hailey@youngagrarians.org, the regional Land Matcher for the BCLMP, with your questions and inquiries about farming in the Kootenays/Columbia Basin.