About the Land:
10 acres of land in the “Dry Belt” on the Bonaparte River near Ashcroft, British Columbia. For the last 3 years, the land has been developed as a small organic hopyard. The landowner has been successful in establishing 10 varieties of hops (to be narrowed to 3 for long-term operation) with an effective low-cost trellis and drip irrigation system. He is designing in proof-of-concept processing using liquid CO2 to produce a powdered concentrate of lupulin (the active component) and is getting initial positive responses from brewers in Canada and Europe. The intention has been to add various food and medicinal herbs to the crop mix, to grow between the hops rows and to be processed using the same technique. The hops are in their 3rd year, and should be in full production by next year. The companion herb crops have not yet been selected. The landowner has on hand the tools and equipment necessary for the farm operation and maintenance.
About the Opportunity:
The landowner wants to find a partner or partners for the project who have the energy and expertise to build it out to success. Any net return generated by the project would go to the grower, with a a gradual repayment of the landowner’s so-far-invested capital of about $85,000.
The people who might find this project interesting will have some experience in the general duties associated with any farm – that means being a jack-or-jill of all trades (pumps and pipes, minor electrical and mechanical, carpentry, farm equipment operations and maintenance, general inventiveness), being able to put in hours as required especially in spring and fall, being interested in the processes of plants and soils and weather, able to deal with marketing, sales and small business management, and having the stick-to-it-iveness that is essential to make any farm work.
Ashcroft is a great little community, best climate in Canada, with an excellent K-12 school, a good mix of cultural and social organizations, farmers of all sorts around the area, easy access to Kamloops for major supplies and shopping, all just 3.5 hours from Vancouver.
Get in touch
Interested? Reach out to John by phone at 604 626 8184 or email kidder@telus.net.
For more land opportunities, and to learn about the B.C. Land Matching Program, please visit youngagrarians.org/land
The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded in the Okanagan by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.