{"id":736,"date":"2023-05-11T19:21:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T23:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/chapter\/__unknown__\/"},"modified":"2023-12-31T20:02:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T01:02:03","slug":"farmland_loss","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/chapter\/farmland_loss\/","title":{"raw":"Loss and Alienation of Farmland","rendered":"Loss and Alienation of Farmland"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"__UNKNOWN__\">\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Conversion of farmland refers to the change of tenure from agriculture to residential, commercial or industrial uses, most often the result of urban expansion into rural areas.\u00a0 This loss of farmland is considered permanent.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Due to historical urban settlement patterns, the vast majority of BC\u2019s prime agricultural areas coincides directly with the province\u2019s most populous municipalities.\u00a0 Thus, productive agricultural lands in the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan Valley, and southern Vancouver Island\u2014which are responsible for about 80% of all BC\u2019s gross farm receipts\u2014are also subject to significant urban development pressures.[footnote]Smith, Barry E. (1998). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alc.gov.bc.ca\/resources\/land-use-planning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Planning for Agriculture<\/em><\/a>. Burnaby, BC: Provincial Agricultural Land Commission, p. 1-4.[\/footnote]\u00a0 Prior to 1973, it was estimated that BC was losing between 4,000 and 6,000 ha of prime agricultural land to urban land uses annually.[footnote]Smith (1998).[\/footnote]\u00a0 While the establishment of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) succeeded in slowing conversion of agricultural lands, from 1973 to 2003, urban expansion was responsible for a decrease of over 35,000 ha of agricultural lands within these three regions.[footnote]ALR-Protection and Enhancement Committee (2005). <em>Protecting the Agricultural Land Reserve: Our Foodlands Under Threat<\/em>, p. 2.[\/footnote]\u00a0 These stressors will only increase in the future, where urban population growth in BC is anticipated to grow significantly, by 33% between 2020 and 2041 in the Lower Mainland.[footnote]Ip, F., and Lavoie, S. (2019). <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/assets\/gov\/data\/statistics\/people-population-community\/population\/people_population_projections_highlights.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>PEOPLE 2020: BC Sub-Provincial Population Projections<\/em><\/a>. Victoria, BC: BC Stats.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Outside heavily urbanised areas, farmlands may be compromised by unnecessary subdivision and the introduction of non-farm land uses in agricultural areas.\u00a0 Amenity migration to rural areas is a phenomenon where formerly urban landowners are enticed by promises of the \u2018country life\u2019 on smaller lot ranchettes (rural residential estates).\u00a0 Non-farm uses may have several detrimental impacts upon agricultural regions, such as the following:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"import-Normal\">allowing potentially productive agriculture lands to go uncultivated;<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"import-Normal\">introducing urban values and perceptions of land into agricultural communities; and,<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"import-Normal\">encouraging further subdivision through land value improvements.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Finally, rural agricultural lands may also undergo conversion to accommodate more lucrative forms of resource development, such as energy generation (hydroelectricity, wind turbines) or oil and gas production.<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h2 class=\"import-Normal\"><strong>Alienation<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Although the conversion of agricultural land to other uses is a primary concern, the loss of agricultural land is subject to additional concerns.\u00a0 Under the category of alienation (in the sense of separation, isolation, or dissociation), broad discussions about \u201closs\u201d must also consider non-farm uses, fragmentation, parcelisation, concurrent uses, and \u201curban shadow\u201d effects.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Non-farm uses refer to uses of agricultural land for activities or facilities that are not directly agricultural uses.\u00a0 Examples of non-farm uses of agricultural land include secondary residential dwellings, commercial operations, gravel pits, churches and cemeteries, golf courses, and parks.\u00a0 Some non-farm uses can be permitted uses under legislation and be of either public or private purposes.\u00a0 The general aim of farmland protection policy is to limit the intrusion of non-farm uses in agricultural areas.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Fragmentation of farmland refers to a spatial problem where a once contiguous area of farmland has been divided into isolated farms.\u00a0 A typical example concerns peri-urban areas that were once dominated by farming.\u00a0 As the urban area expands, individual parcels of agricultural land are purchased and converted for non-farm uses.\u00a0 Agriculture remains active in the area, but the land base becomes fragmented, with non-farm uses scattered among agricultural parcels.\u00a0 Fragmentation can also refer to a single farm operating on separate, non-contiguous parcels.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Fragmentation is related to parcelisation, which is the subdivision of farmland into smaller parcels with an increased number of owners.\u00a0 Smaller parcels are most often the result of larger agricultural parcels being subdivided.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Concurrent farm uses are another area of concern.\u00a0 Energy development, such as wind turbines and oil and gas activities, are often permitted uses on active agricultural lands, thereby making these non-farm uses concurrent with farming uses.\u00a0 As a benefit, these concurrent uses provide increased cash flow to the land owner.\u00a0 As an impact, these uses contribute to alienation and pose long-term risks for when these non-farm uses reach the end of their life cycle.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">The \u201curban shadow\u201d refers to agricultural land that is affected by their proximity to urban centres, but without the visible effects of urban sprawl.\u00a0 The urban shadow affects farmland in different ways, including speculative ownership that often results in idle land; non-farm ownership, which often results in lower productivity, short-term leases that can destroy the incentive for sound farming practices; high land prices that discourage farming and encourage selling of lots and subdivision to non-economic sized units; and high land taxes that subsidise the further development of farmland.\u00a0 A similar concept is \u201cimpermanence syndrome,\u201d which reflects discussions about lack of investment by farmers.\u00a0 The impermanence syndrome is a situation in which farmers anticipate that increased urbanisation will absorb farmland in the not-too distant future.\u00a0 Although the agricultural land is not converted to non-farm uses, the consequences of uncertainty and conflicts with neighbouring non-farm uses are significant.\u00a0 Similarly, as farmland is converted and alienated, the number of farms and farmers declines.\u00a0 The remaining farmers start to accept the inevitable decline of the agricultural sector in the area and stop investing in their facilities and operations.\u00a0 Farm suppliers and services close shop, and the initial loss of farmland feeds upon itself, leading to a rapid decline.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"import-Normal\"><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"__UNKNOWN__\">\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Conversion of farmland refers to the change of tenure from agriculture to residential, commercial or industrial uses, most often the result of urban expansion into rural areas.\u00a0 This loss of farmland is considered permanent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Due to historical urban settlement patterns, the vast majority of BC\u2019s prime agricultural areas coincides directly with the province\u2019s most populous municipalities.\u00a0 Thus, productive agricultural lands in the Lower Mainland, the Okanagan Valley, and southern Vancouver Island\u2014which are responsible for about 80% of all BC\u2019s gross farm receipts\u2014are also subject to significant urban development pressures.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Smith, Barry E. (1998). Planning for Agriculture. Burnaby, BC: Provincial Agricultural Land Commission, p. 1-4.\" id=\"return-footnote-736-1\" href=\"#footnote-736-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Prior to 1973, it was estimated that BC was losing between 4,000 and 6,000 ha of prime agricultural land to urban land uses annually.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Smith (1998).\" id=\"return-footnote-736-2\" href=\"#footnote-736-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 While the establishment of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) succeeded in slowing conversion of agricultural lands, from 1973 to 2003, urban expansion was responsible for a decrease of over 35,000 ha of agricultural lands within these three regions.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"ALR-Protection and Enhancement Committee (2005). Protecting the Agricultural Land Reserve: Our Foodlands Under Threat, p. 2.\" id=\"return-footnote-736-3\" href=\"#footnote-736-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 These stressors will only increase in the future, where urban population growth in BC is anticipated to grow significantly, by 33% between 2020 and 2041 in the Lower Mainland.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ip, F., and Lavoie, S. (2019). PEOPLE 2020: BC Sub-Provincial Population Projections. Victoria, BC: BC Stats.\" id=\"return-footnote-736-4\" href=\"#footnote-736-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Outside heavily urbanised areas, farmlands may be compromised by unnecessary subdivision and the introduction of non-farm land uses in agricultural areas.\u00a0 Amenity migration to rural areas is a phenomenon where formerly urban landowners are enticed by promises of the \u2018country life\u2019 on smaller lot ranchettes (rural residential estates).\u00a0 Non-farm uses may have several detrimental impacts upon agricultural regions, such as the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"import-Normal\">allowing potentially productive agriculture lands to go uncultivated;<\/li>\n<li class=\"import-Normal\">introducing urban values and perceptions of land into agricultural communities; and,<\/li>\n<li class=\"import-Normal\">encouraging further subdivision through land value improvements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Finally, rural agricultural lands may also undergo conversion to accommodate more lucrative forms of resource development, such as energy generation (hydroelectricity, wind turbines) or oil and gas production.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"import-Normal\"><strong>Alienation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Although the conversion of agricultural land to other uses is a primary concern, the loss of agricultural land is subject to additional concerns.\u00a0 Under the category of alienation (in the sense of separation, isolation, or dissociation), broad discussions about \u201closs\u201d must also consider non-farm uses, fragmentation, parcelisation, concurrent uses, and \u201curban shadow\u201d effects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Non-farm uses refer to uses of agricultural land for activities or facilities that are not directly agricultural uses.\u00a0 Examples of non-farm uses of agricultural land include secondary residential dwellings, commercial operations, gravel pits, churches and cemeteries, golf courses, and parks.\u00a0 Some non-farm uses can be permitted uses under legislation and be of either public or private purposes.\u00a0 The general aim of farmland protection policy is to limit the intrusion of non-farm uses in agricultural areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Fragmentation of farmland refers to a spatial problem where a once contiguous area of farmland has been divided into isolated farms.\u00a0 A typical example concerns peri-urban areas that were once dominated by farming.\u00a0 As the urban area expands, individual parcels of agricultural land are purchased and converted for non-farm uses.\u00a0 Agriculture remains active in the area, but the land base becomes fragmented, with non-farm uses scattered among agricultural parcels.\u00a0 Fragmentation can also refer to a single farm operating on separate, non-contiguous parcels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Fragmentation is related to parcelisation, which is the subdivision of farmland into smaller parcels with an increased number of owners.\u00a0 Smaller parcels are most often the result of larger agricultural parcels being subdivided.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">Concurrent farm uses are another area of concern.\u00a0 Energy development, such as wind turbines and oil and gas activities, are often permitted uses on active agricultural lands, thereby making these non-farm uses concurrent with farming uses.\u00a0 As a benefit, these concurrent uses provide increased cash flow to the land owner.\u00a0 As an impact, these uses contribute to alienation and pose long-term risks for when these non-farm uses reach the end of their life cycle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">The \u201curban shadow\u201d refers to agricultural land that is affected by their proximity to urban centres, but without the visible effects of urban sprawl.\u00a0 The urban shadow affects farmland in different ways, including speculative ownership that often results in idle land; non-farm ownership, which often results in lower productivity, short-term leases that can destroy the incentive for sound farming practices; high land prices that discourage farming and encourage selling of lots and subdivision to non-economic sized units; and high land taxes that subsidise the further development of farmland.\u00a0 A similar concept is \u201cimpermanence syndrome,\u201d which reflects discussions about lack of investment by farmers.\u00a0 The impermanence syndrome is a situation in which farmers anticipate that increased urbanisation will absorb farmland in the not-too distant future.\u00a0 Although the agricultural land is not converted to non-farm uses, the consequences of uncertainty and conflicts with neighbouring non-farm uses are significant.\u00a0 Similarly, as farmland is converted and alienated, the number of farms and farmers declines.\u00a0 The remaining farmers start to accept the inevitable decline of the agricultural sector in the area and stop investing in their facilities and operations.\u00a0 Farm suppliers and services close shop, and the initial loss of farmland feeds upon itself, leading to a rapid decline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"import-Normal\">\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-736-1\">Smith, Barry E. (1998). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alc.gov.bc.ca\/resources\/land-use-planning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Planning for Agriculture<\/em><\/a>. Burnaby, BC: Provincial Agricultural Land Commission, p. 1-4. <a href=\"#return-footnote-736-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-736-2\">Smith (1998). <a href=\"#return-footnote-736-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-736-3\">ALR-Protection and Enhancement Committee (2005). <em>Protecting the Agricultural Land Reserve: Our Foodlands Under Threat<\/em>, p. 2. <a href=\"#return-footnote-736-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-736-4\">Ip, F., and Lavoie, S. (2019). <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/assets\/gov\/data\/statistics\/people-population-community\/population\/people_population_projections_highlights.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>PEOPLE 2020: BC Sub-Provincial Population Projections<\/em><\/a>. Victoria, BC: BC Stats. <a href=\"#return-footnote-736-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1858,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Module.Loss of Farmland","pb_subtitle":"LEARNING MODULE","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":"cc-by-nc-sa"},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[57],"class_list":["post-736","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","license-cc-by-nc-sa"],"part":77,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1858"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":739,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/736\/revisions\/739"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/77"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/736\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=736"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=736"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/landuseplanninginbc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}