• B.C. Land Matching Program Overview
• Connect with a Land Matcher
• See Who We’ve Matched to More than 12,600 Acres!
• Meet the Land Matchers
• History of Young Agrarians Land Access Programming

B.C. Land Matching Program

The BCLMP provides:

• An online and searchable inventory of B.C. land opportunities
• Personalized, regional matchmaking services for farmers and landholders, including support to develop land use agreements
• Referrals to business and technical support services
• Educational events and resources to increase knowledge and facilitate matches between new farmers and landholders

Who can participate in the BCLMP?

• Farmers seeking land to start or expand their agricultural business
• Landholders looking for someone to farm their land
• Farmers and farmland holders who matched independently and want support to develop agreements

The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, with additional support from Columbia Basin Trust, Bullitt Foundation, Cowichan Valley Regional District, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.

WHAT TO EXPECT

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR: Land Leasing 101 is our introduction through the A to Z of finding land or a farmer and developing a land sharing relationship. You will learn about leasing land in B.C., legal considerations, and how to build and maintain mutually beneficial land agreements. Each step of the way, you will get a taste of the services available to farmers and farmland holders through the B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP).

1. CONNECT: Reach out to a land matcher by email or phone. They will reply to set up a phone call to learn more about your vision and needs.
   • Landholders: be ready with information about your land, expectations from a land match, and vision. Land matchers will help you evaluate your land for agricultural viability.
   • Farmers: be ready to discuss your business model and provide or develop a business plan with our support as part of your land search.
2. REGISTER: Land matchers will follow up with a site visit for landholders, or further meetings with farmers, to register you for the program. Depending on your location, land matchers may connect remotely.
   • Once registered, land matchers will help you list yourself in our digital inventory U-MAP and post land opportunity/land seeker blogs.
   • Land matchers will help farmers develop or refine your business plan to get you ready to access land.
   • If you have questions or need resources/advisors in your region, land matchers can provide information and referrals at any point in the matching process.
   • *Please note that timelines vary for all participants and matches, depending on your needs and the availability of farmers/land.
3. GET MATCHED: Land matchers will provide hands-on, personalized matchmaking to make introductions and help landholders and land seekers find the most suitable match for their vision and needs.
4. DEVELOP AGREEMENT: Once you’ve found a match, or if you meet someone independently of the BCLMP, land matchers will facilitate negotiations and help develop a land use agreement.
   • A written agreement is an essential part of a successful land match.
   • Land matchers will work with you and your land match partner to help you agree on the terms of your agreement, and will provide a lawyer-reviewed agreement.

We’re always here for you. Once you’ve been matched and your agreement is signed, land matchers are available to help with additional resources and referrals, or to answer any questions you may have about processes related to your land access needs.

SEE WHO WE’VE MATCHED

NATURALLY GOOD VIBES, LANGLEY: Kristen is growing vegetables and keeping bees on half an acre of land on a property in Langley. A graduate of KPU’s Farm School program, Kristen has two seasons running her farm business under her belt and is gearing up for year three. She leases land from Irene, who also farms, and the two are thrilled to be on this farming journey together. Read more about this match on the YA blog!

“I still can’t believe it’s real! Developing an agreement was such a foreign thing that I would not have known what to do, and it would’ve been such a shame to miss out on such a great opportunity. The Land Matcher made this experience really wonderful. It was so amazing to sign the lease on Friday and spend all of Monday digging up grass and weeds.” – Kristen, farmer

PRAVIN DHALIWAL, OKANAGAN: Pravin is a budding viticulturist from a family of orchardists,and was ready to start his own farm operation. He was matched to Tony, a retired apple orchardist who had been looking for someone to farm his 18 acres in Summerland. Pravin spent last year readying the land to plant, and vines are now in the ground! Read more about this match on the YA blog!

“Working with the BCLMP was very smooth, professional and pleasant. Fantastic. I appreciated being able to quickly find a farmer to lease my land, which was important to me.” – Tony, landholder

YOUNG AGRARIANS LAND MATCHING TEAM

Darcy Smith, BC Program Manager – land@youngagrarians.org
Darcy Smith has spent the last decade working to support farmers and food systems. She lives and works on unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories. As the first Land Matcher in B.C., then as the BCLMP program manager from 2018-2024, and now as YA’s B.C. Program Manager, she’s worked with many new entrants, seasoned farmers and farmland holders across the province, who all share a vision to help the next generation of farmers get on the land and to see the land producing food into the future. Darcy also edits the BC Organic Grower, a magazine showcasing organic farming across B.C.

Pascale Schittecatte, BCLMP Manager – pascale@youngagrarians.org
Originally from Gabriola Island, Pascale Schittecatte spent her earliest years climbing hay bales and feeding bottle calves on Somerset Farm. After many years spent living in cities large and small, Pascale found her way back to farming through food and wine. She worked for five years as a winemaker and farm hand in the UK and the Okanagan before initially joining the YA team as a Land Matcher in the Okanagan-Thompson. Now as program manager of the BCLMP, Pascale enjoys supporting Land Matchers throughout the province in their vital work. What Pascale most loves about working in land access is connecting with people and supporting them to realise their farming goals.

Danika (Dani) Watson, BCLMP Coordinator – bclmp@youngagrarians.org
Danika first became interested in agriculture while working on a farm near her hometown in Ontario. Her studies then took her on a winding journey from chemistry labs to a High Arctic field site all the way to a particle accelerator facility in Vancouver. Along the way, she got to organize community events, advocate for fossil fuel divestment and author/illustrate an educational comic. After graduating, Danika worked on research in agriculture, which reignited her interest in farming. After many years in academia, she wanted to apply her skills to directly support local farming and community-building. Ever since then, she has been volunteering as a gardener for the LMNH Yard Garden Harvest Project and working on the B.C. Land Matching Program delivered by Young Agrarians.

Kiyomi Ito, Vancouver Island-Gulf Islands Land Matcher – kiyomi@youngagrarians.org
Kiyomi Ito is a city girl turned cow lover turned farmer and local food enthusiast. Growing up in a city in Japan, Kiyomi’s journey into agriculture started when she accidentally fell in love with dairy cows during her studies at the University of British Columbia. Her love of cows took her on a wild tour across Canada and the United States, working as a cow behaviourist and dairy scientist. In 2013, she landed on Vancouver Island, where she has expanded her interests, learning to be an organic vegetable grower, free-range egg grader, farm store clerk, and Integrated Pest Management specialist, alongside starting her own microgreens and market garden ventures. She further cultivated her commitment to farming and farmers through her volunteer work with a local farmers’ institute. In 2022, Kiyomi’s winding journey led her to her role as a Land Matcher. She is grateful for this opportunity to support fellow farmers and landholders in realizing their visions, and to take part in growing vital farming communities across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Ve-Jane Duong, Metro Vancouver-Fraser Valley Land Matcher – vejane@youngagrarians.org
Ve-Jane grew up in London, UK, and became interested in farming when she was still in Europe and off-grid living was taking off there as a movement. For years, the prospect of farming was a remote fantasy, but after moving to Vancouver, B.C. in 2011, she spent several years working in commercial real estate before deciding to enroll in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Farm School programme. Since 2019, she has been running a small farm operation alongside off-farm employment. Through her work as a Land Matcher, Ve-Jane loves supporting her fellow farmers and helping landholders realize their visions for their land.

Haley Schonhofer, Okanagan-Thompson Land Matcher – haley@youngagrarians.org
Haley Schonhofer grew up in B.C. and spent all of her summers at her family’s ranch in Southern Alberta, helping out with the cattle and bonding with the land. A lover of nature and farming through and through, she studied Resource and Environmental Management at SFU and has held multiple research-based roles working extensively with collecting and interpreting data on biological pest management solutions in various crops. Due to her family legacy in farming, she is passionate about environmentally- and economically-friendly practices that help farmers succeed. She is excited to be supporting the Okanagan-Thompson farming community through the B.C. Land Matching Program.

Nyree Marsh, Columbia Basin Land Matcher – nyree@youngagrarians.org
Nyree is a hands-on business owner with over 20 years of experience in farming. She was raised in the foothills of Alberta, leaving after graduation for coastal BC, where at 21 she leased her first market garden on Salt Spring Island. From there the passion grew with opportunities to establish farm businesses and work with existing farmers within Canada and overseas before settling in the Kootenays in 2005. Nyree’s great joy and interest is in feeding people, she has worked extensively in providing food to her community through subsistence and commercial farming, working as a sous chef in restaurants, and as an artisanal gelato maker in Nelson. She has deep roots in the local farming community, working as a certified organic farmer and as a volunteer with Kootenay Organic Growers Society and executive board member of the Central Kootenay Food Policy Council; she is a familiar face at many farm networking events. In 2020, Nyree joined the Basin Business Advisors Program as the Agriculture Business Advisor and during her time with the BBA, enjoyed working with regional farmers and ranchers on tailored business solutions. Nyree loves applying her skills and knowledge to support farmers and landholders as the Columbia Basin Land Matcher.

Andrew Adams, Central & North Land Matcher – andrew@youngagrarians.org
Andrew grew up in rural Kansas and spent much of his childhood roaming his family’s small farm and forest. Andrew attained a BSc in Agricultural sciences at Kansas State University with a major in conservation. He moved to Alaska and lived there for a few years before meeting and marrying his French-Canadian wife and immigrating to the unceded territory of the Lheidli Tenneh. Andrew worked as a forest ecologist mapping ecosystems and soil while building his farm on 150 acres starting in 2011. Andrew’s farm currently produces certified organic vegetables and fruit to local markets and wholesale distributors in B.C. Since 2018, Andrew has been a commissioner for the Agricultural Land Commission on the North Panel, implementing the mandate of protecting BC’s farmland. A lover of the land and nature, Andrew can be found hunting, foraging or fishing with his two boys and wife when he isn’t farming.

Emi Do, Co-op Coordinator – emi@youngagrarians.org
Emi Do came to cooperatives as a small-scale urban farmer trying to find a viable alternative to the dominant food distribution chain. Though her interest in agricultural cooperatives led to a PhD and an assistant professorship at Tokyo University of Agriculture, the empowerment, mutuality and solidarity underlying cooperatives sparked an interest in the co-ops as a means to democratize and transform relationships across different workplaces and contexts. She has also been an active member of the Community Working Group Operations Team at social.coop for over two years, helping to navigate the challenging waters of online moderation cooperatively. She recently co-authored a book on the transformative potential of cooperatives entitled Cooperatives at Work. Emi loves working with YA supporting farmers to help find opportunities for collaboration and fostering cooperation to solve gaps in the food system in B.C.

Melanie Buffel, BCLMP Business Support and Business Mentorship Network Program Manager
Melanie comes from a long line of farmers and found a lot of joy in spending time at her grandparents farms as a child growing up in Alberta. Melanie has been an urban homesteader most of her life, growing and preserving her own food since her early 20s. After completing her BA in Psychology she moved to Vancouver and was inspired to study business and community development. She went on to complete her MBA in Community Economic Development and  developed a thriving practice as a Money Coach for small businesses. Melanie realized a personal dream when she moved to the Fraser Valley in 2017 to live on and manage Abundance Community Farm, a not-for-profit community farm that aims to connect people to the land and each other by growing food collectively. Melanie’s approach is to meet farmers where they are at in their journey and share her knowledge, experience and resource referrals to support their next steps towards their goals.

HISTORY OF YOUNG AGRARIANS LAND ACCESS PROGRAMMING