A new program is being rolled out in the Columbia Basin that looks to provide opportunities for new farmers. The Land Matching Program has been offered since 2016 in the Lower Mainland and is now expanded to four other areas. Young Agrarians BC deliver the program which pairs interested farmers with land leasing opportunities.
Darcy Smith is a Land Matcher in the Lower Mainland and explains why it’s become so important. “We’ve been hearing from farmers that accessing land is a big challenge for them given the high price of land and even in the Columbia Basin the cost of farm land is quite high and essentially prices farmers out of the market.”
Smith encourages land owners to get in touch and learn what supports are available. “If this is something that they’re interested in doing, that they’ve thought about having their land farmed, they can reach out to a Young Agrarian land matcher and the BC Land Matcher Programand talk about it with the land matcher, find out if it’s a good fit for them and then potentially get support if they do want to search for someone to lease their land.”
The Columbia Basin Trust and Provincial Government are financial supporters of the program.
The CBT says one of their priorities is to foster agricultural production, and for residents to have access to healthy food. This means supporting the agriculture sector in a number of ways, including the Columbia Basin Land Matcher.
For more details on the program, you can visit the Young Agrarian website.