Farmers, farmland, and the food they together produce have become popular topics with growing focus on eating local and the 100-mile-diet. The problem, according to many farming advocates, is the rising cost of land in the CRD. With land hitting $100,000 an acre, farmers are being priced out of agricultural land. Those interested in becoming farmers can’t find places to do it; those in the industry already can’t afford it; and those who are retiring can’t find anyone to replace them.

In response, local farmland defenders have organized a conference, Our Farmlands, Our Future, for Thursday, November 27, at the Mary Winspear Centre.

“The conference is about looking at how we can make sure that the farmland that’s there right now is accessible for farming,” said conference organizer Linda Geggie, who also works for Lifecycles, one of the local organizations involved in working on the farmland-accessibility question.

Earlier this year, representatives from those organizations and other people involved in farming came together for a forum. Out of that the idea for the conference sprang, and, Geggie said, the conference is intended to spawn a report on the ideas and conclusions drawn.

Geggie said that it’s not just the CRD that’s dealing with the land-cost issue. “It’s the Central Island, the Fraser Valley, the interior of BC, and the Kootenays,” she said. “It’s a huge issue, in terms of development pressure, and speculation for future sale.” She said that farmland — whether designated via the Agricultural Land Reserve or not — is often bought up with the expectation that it will be built on in the future, with the purchasers thinking they’ll be able to get the designation changed. That type of speculation drives up land costs for those who are looking to farm.

The conference features a series of panels on various approaches for those looking to access farmland for farming. One element, Geggie emphasized, is that local farmers need to be able to sell their product at a price that makes their efforts economically viable. “If we’re supporting local food and paying a fair price for food on lands, then that’s going to allow their businesses to deal with increasing costs around farmlands,” she said. “Supporting farmers is number one.”

One talk will deal with municipal policies, offering local municipalities strategies for protecting their farmland. Central Saanich councillor Alastair Bryson, a sheep farmer, and Central Saanich district planner Hope Burns will be speaking on that panel. “There’s a whole bunch of different tools that municipalities can use,” Geggie said.

Other talks will cover various alternative ways for farmers to gain access to farmland, outside of the traditional owner-operated. “They’ll be looking at co-operative or partnership arrangements for getting on the land, and leasing, and land trusts,” Geggie said. “You don’t necessarily have to own land to farm it, but being able to ... have security on the land is very important.”

Representatives from the Farmlands Trust, a Central Saanich group looking to buy Woodwynn Farm for use by a wide range of farmers, will be on hand for the talk about land trusts. Farm tax status and assessments will also be under discussion.

Geggie said that the conference has already proved popular, with a minimum of 150 people expected. She said that farmers, councillors, municipal staff, regional planners, and those on agricultural advisories have all registered. “it’s a very broad participation,” she said, adding that she was happy to see many local decision-makers would be attending. MLA Corky Evans, the opposition critic for Agriculture and Lands, will close the day-long conference with a speech.

For those interested in attending the conference, more information, including registration information, is available online at www.lifecyclesproject.ca/conferences/focusonfarmlands. The conference runs Thursday, November 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney.

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