A committee is continuing to study how to revitalize British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve and Agricultural Land Commission. The public had the opportunity to provide input, and the consultation process ran until the end of April. “The committee is working hard to compile all of that information and come up with some interim results,” said […] Read more
Stories by Shelley Tomlinson
Large houses still possible on ALR land
City council in Richmond, B.C., has voted to maintain the status quo for house sizes in the Agriculture Land Reserve. It allows for a house size of 10,764 sq. feet. “What was approved by council by a six to three vote was we go with the status quo,” said councillor Linda McPhail. “I voted in […] Read more
Farmland part of B.C. city’s flood plan
Protecting low-lying agricultural land around Surrey, B.C., is expected to be addressed in a Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy, now being developed by the city. Surrey, about 35 kilometres east of Vancouver next to the Fraser River, is situated on the coastal flood plain. Mike Starchuk, a city councillor and the chair of the Surrey agriculture […] Read more
B.C. city council ducks decision on housing size in land reserve
Discussions continue around house sizes on farmland in the agricultural land reserve in Richmond, B.C. At a city council meeting at the end of March, council deferred a decision on limiting the size of homes on ALR land and voted to send the matter back to city staff for more information. Carol Day, a member […] Read more
Land trust called way to attract younger producers
Farm access is one area of research for Hannah Wittman, a professor in the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. The research has included farmland access particularly for newer people interested in farming who haven’t grown up on farms. “We’ve also worked for a long time with Farm Folk-City Folk […] Read more
Marijuana in ALR targeted
A petition containing more than 1,400 signatures addressing concerns about marijuana production in British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve has been presented in the B.C. legislature. Green Party MLA and agriculture spokesperson Adam Olsen on March 15 presented the petition created by the group Citizens for Protecting Agricultural Land. “We’re not against marijuana. We’re against growing […] Read more
Reform needed to encourage ALR use in B.C., study finds
A new report in British Columbia calls for reforms to increase farming in the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve. The report, called Protection is not enough: policy precedents to increase the agricultural use of British Columbia’s farmland, was released by the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. According to the paper, about 50 […] Read more
B.C. budget includes funding for agricultural programs
New funding for agriculture and food was announced as part of British Columbia’s provincial budget released Feb. 20. “It’s $29 million for investment in the ministry,” said Lana Popham, the B.C. Minister of Agriculture. The funding is over three years for the Grow BC, Feed BC, Buy BC programs. According to the ministry of agriculture, […] Read more
Animal welfare not a bigger problem on larger operations, study finds
A post-doctoral researcher at Iowa State University said a study exploring a correlation between farm size and animal welfare found no such link. “The simplistic formula that big farms are bad for animal welfare isn’t true and, in fact, in many cases, it appears to be quite the opposite” said Jesse Robbins. Robbins explored farm […] Read more
B.C. researchers focus on vegetable seeds
The British Columbia Seed Trials project is working to assist the province’s vegetable seed business. Variety trials and other seed-related research is underway to help farmers identify crops and and varieties that have a strong potential for the seed industry in B.C., according to Alexandra Lyon, a postdoctoral fellow with the University of British Columbia. […] Read more
