SBC September 2020 – Tamara Knott: Owner & Controlled Environment Farmer at Bright Greens & Steve Duck: Business Manager for the Sandown Center for Regenerative Agriculture

Challenges

fresh food to market – distribution challenging / processing in Island challenging
high land costs
older farm owners dominant / succession issues / aging out with huge debt / how do young farmers get involved
high cost of labour / limited labour pool
how can the farm owner earn a sustainable living?

Partner Solutions

agri-tourism / vertical integration / challenging processing chains / supply channels
the creation of “farmpreneur”
Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture (https://www.vicnews.com/news/north-saanichs-sandown-lands-to-become-agricultural-focused-community-centre/) – fully committed to the development of “farmpreneur”
focus on the business of farming
more support from government for small farming
- education specific to accessing funding opportunities
- accomodation for staff on the farm
- grants for leasehold land ownership (soil irrigation / fencing – consider these as TI for farming)
- policy & program development should be regional, not just Vancouver & Valley oriented
- higher threshold for large land estates to claim farm tax
Island Good (https://islandgood.ca/about-island-good/what-is-island-good/)

3 Emerging Areas

Why are these emergent areas? Focus on high cost of land and creating sustainable & affordable businesses

Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture

Summary

pay attention to our own backyard – must be able to regenerate our land
future investment in the “farmpreneur” – must be better farm based business people & entities

the Peninsula is a fabulous asset & we must celebrate & promote the food / farming / business sector to the broader community