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

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

Popham said the new rule, to take effect Dec. 31, will streamline approval for a small secondary residence in the reserve. sa国际传媒淭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. Wesa国际传媒檝e opened that up to folks outside the family and wesa国际传媒檝e expanded the type of dwelling from mobile homes.sa国际传媒�

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

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

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 Surreysa国际传媒檚 land base is one-third agricultural.

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

She said B.C. brings in about 12,000 temporary foreign workers, mostly from Mexico, to work local farms, greenhouses and other agricultural businesses. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檇 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.sa国际传媒�

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

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

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

sa国际传媒淭he products that are coming out of these food hubs are incredible,sa国际传媒� Popham said.

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

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

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

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

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

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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