British Columbia Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says the government introduced regulatory changes this week that will allow 乌鸦传媒渟ome more residential flexibility乌鸦传媒� in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

The ALR, she noted, is 乌鸦传媒渁lways a hot topic, and you basically need a suit of armor any time you address any changes that are needed.乌鸦传媒�

Popham said the new rule, to take effect Dec. 31, will streamline approval for a small secondary residence in the reserve. 乌鸦传媒淭his can be used to house farm labour, it can be an agri-tourism accommodation, you can rent it out for supplemental income. Under the previous government only family members were allowed to have this space on the ALR parcel, most commonly in a mobile home. We乌鸦传媒檝e opened that up to folks outside the family and we乌鸦传媒檝e expanded the type of dwelling from mobile homes.乌鸦传媒�

Popham said permission will still be required from local governments or First Nations governments 乌鸦传媒渂ut there will be no applications to the Agricultural Land Commission.乌鸦传媒� She said it could be a secondary residence 乌鸦传媒渢hat looks like a garden suite,乌鸦传媒� a guest house or a manufactured home.

乌鸦传媒淗aving an option opens up new doors to families,乌鸦传媒� Popham said. 乌鸦传媒淚 also think one of the things we heard most from new farmers is that they didn乌鸦传媒檛 have anywhere to live 乌鸦传媒� they could lease some land, but they乌鸦传媒檇 have to travel and commute to that land in order to farm it as a business.乌鸦传媒�

Popham was the guest speaker Friday during a Zoom meeting hosted by the Surrey Board of Trade concerning the state of the agriculture industry in B.C., and in Surrey in particular. Anita Huberman, CEO of the board, noted that Surrey乌鸦传媒檚 land base is one-third agricultural.

Popham noted that the past 16 months have been 乌鸦传媒渋ncredibly difficult for everyone乌鸦传媒� on account of the pandemic and recent heat wave. 乌鸦传媒淭here is no ignoring the issue of how climate is affecting our agriculture sector,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淥f course we have fires right now that are threatening some agricultural businesses. It乌鸦传媒檚 quite sad.乌鸦传媒�

She said B.C. brings in about 12,000 temporary foreign workers, mostly from Mexico, to work local farms, greenhouses and other agricultural businesses. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檇 like to see more domestic labour and we would like to be able to see agri-tech support different types of labour, labour that starts with technology.乌鸦传媒�

Popham said 150 agri-tech companies are already operating in B.C. One features a robot strawberry harvester here in Surrey, she noted, 乌鸦传媒渨hich finds ripe strawberries, picks them, doesn乌鸦传媒檛 damage the fruit, doesn乌鸦传媒檛 damage the plant and is easier on everybody乌鸦传媒檚 backs. So this type of technology really helps us address some of the labour shortages that we乌鸦传媒檙e seeing in agriculture.乌鸦传媒�

Drones being used in vineyards can detect disease faster than the human eye can,乌鸦传媒� she added. 乌鸦传媒淲e see dairies that are using agri-tech to take the temperature of their cows to address any health issues before they become serious.乌鸦传媒�

She said Surrey has one of the first of B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 12 乌鸦传媒渇ood hubs,乌鸦传媒� Plenty & Grace Food Hub & Innovation Centre in South Surrey, that put shared-use processing facilities into communities where food entrepreneurs can access 乌鸦传媒渃utting-edge乌鸦传媒� equipment around the clock, eliminating barriers to small businesses that are starting up.

乌鸦传媒淭he products that are coming out of these food hubs are incredible,乌鸦传媒� Popham said.

Meantime, in February Popham sent a stern letter to the City of Surrey for dissolving the city乌鸦传媒檚 agriculture and food policy advisory committee. 乌鸦传媒淚 am disappointed that the city leadership did not seek dialogue nor public input prior to the planned committee re-assignment,乌鸦传媒� she wrote in a letter to Surrey council on Feb. 23.

乌鸦传媒淧lease be reminded that municipalities with the intention to restrict or prohibit agriculture within a farming area may need to become 乌鸦传媒榬egulated乌鸦传媒� under Section 553 of the Local Government Act,乌鸦传媒� she warned.

Asked about this Friday, Popham said she thinks it was 乌鸦传媒渕aybe a little but surprising乌鸦传媒� that she weighed in on the issue, 乌鸦传媒渂ut the importance of agriculture to our province is enormous, it乌鸦传媒檚 a huge economic generator.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淪urrey does have a third of its property in the ALR so you can乌鸦传媒檛, in my view, you can乌鸦传媒檛 really operate Surrey without acknowledging agriculture and so the reason why I weighed in is because I don乌鸦传媒檛 know of any community, really, that hasn乌鸦传媒檛 realized that food security is one of the biggest issues that we乌鸦传媒檙e going to face around the globe and so it just seemed like a really bad decision.乌鸦传媒�

Popham said decisions concerning the ALR, business proposals and 乌鸦传媒渇iguring out the best way to be the wind at the back of entrepreneurs, it all has to go hand-in-hand, agriculture can乌鸦传媒檛 stand alone. I think that乌鸦传媒檚 really what the message was when the committee got disbanded 乌鸦传媒� is that agriculture is on its own, and agriculture runs through the veins of every community.乌鸦传媒�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on   and follow Tom on