If we were to take anything away from the recent Southlands public hearing it would seem that complexities around farming would stand out. Many of the 400 or so speakers to address mayor and council over the course of the hearing spoke to soil conditions, costs of drainage and irrigation, the types of crops that can or cannot be grown on parts of the land, and many other aspects of farming and agriculture.
Indeed, farming turned out to be the common ground amongst the hats and the shirts.
On the final day of the hearing we heard from councillor and farmer Ian Paton who described in great detail some of the problems that are associated with farming in Delta.
We heard from Brent Kelly who has been farming the land for several years. We heard from him that this year he had to leave $75,000 worth of spuds in the ground because that particular section of land was flooded in September.
We also heard words and phrases like trade-off, compromise and precedent. Every farmer prepares as best he or she can for weatherrelated issues and Mother Nature will always win the big battles, but it is clear that adequately prepared infrastructure for farming will at least assist in winning some of the smaller ones.
Farming is an activity fraught with risk and many of us pretend to understand it but really, we know little about the business.
The average age of farmers is now approaching 56 in B.C. and I am wondering how armchair farming philosophers intend to attract new farmers to grow the $10 billion sector to $14 billion as is envisioned by the provincial government.
What enterprising young family would take on the risk of acquiring ALR land to farm? These new farmers, wherever they may be, now have to buy the land for $100,000 an acre and clear and prepare it at an additional cost of $5,000 an acre? What soil-based crops would they grow and how does this really relate to the issue of food security? If you are like most farmers in the lower Fraser Valley, you would look at blueberries or cranberries if you were interested in making a living and hope to one day pay off your loans and mortgages.
In the case of the lower Fraser Valley, there are hundreds of acres set aside in the ALR that are now thriving birch forests. One only has to drive between Vancouver and Delta to note firsthand how "prime farmland" is not being adequately managed at all.
Let's remember that official community plans and regional growth plans are just that - plans. It is good to have a plan but if changes have to be made to benefit a wider group, then that plan has to be given fair consideration.
Trade-offs have to be made to achieve greater collective goals.
In the case of the Southlands, a land use precedent has been established that could serve as a model for planning growth strategies in B.C., Canada and elsewhere.
If we are serious about issues like farming and food security, then we should make best efforts to find the compromises that make sense.
