Thursday, July 27, 2023

Program helps new farmers find their land match

Courtesy of the Government of BC:

Backgrounders

B.C. investments in the BC Land Matching Program
  • The B.C. government is investing $480,000 in the BC Land Matching Program for 2023-2024, for a total of $2.2 million since 2018.
  • The total number of matches (284) made on approximately 4,572 hectares (11,300 acres) in regions throughout B.C. include:
    • Metro Vancouver/Fraser Valley: 72 matches on 90 hectares (224 acres)
    • Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands: 86 matches on 139 hectares (345 acres)
    • Thompson-Okanagan: 67 matches on 1800 hectares (4,608 acres)
    • Columbia Basin: 33 matches on 67 hectares (166 acres)
    • Central and northern B.C.: 26 matches on 2,400 hectares (6,025 acres)
  • Matches range in size from less than 0.4 hectares to thousands of hectares of farmland.
  • The BCLMP is part of the Province’s New Entrant Strategy, which looks to increase the number of new and young farmers working in B.C.’s agriculture sector.
  • New farmers typically start out on fewer than four hectares (10 acres), and many of these farms contribute directly to B.C.’s local and regional food supply with an emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales or through farmers markets and restaurants.
  • New and small farms are essential to a sustainable and resilient B.C. food system and localized food supply, with 90% of new farmers selling food directly to consumers.

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