After touring open houses in Fraser Valley’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), seeing the pent-up demand for detached housing in rural neighbourhoods first-hand didn’t come as any surprise. Considering new listings for the month of August 2021 fell to their lowest count in over 20 years. It felt more like an auction, with waves of interested parties pulling up on the sprawling paved driveway through the grand entrance gates.
How can you not desire to live on 5 to 10 acres of your own farmland, to do with it what you will? A true Viking dream. The ALR is a “provincial land-use zone where agriculture is the priority use.” It comprises 5% of BC’s total land base and is the area with the greatest agricultural capacity.
When buying property in the ALR, along with a home inspection, it’s recommended to get a well test, septic test, and soil/tissue sample. A plant tissue analysis is used to detect low nutrient levels in plants before they are seen by the human eye. The test results are an indicator of plant nutritional health and a basis for diagnosing whether existing problems are nutritional in nature.
There are a number of different uses for land in the ALR, which shows why such a high value is placed on properties within this zone. The possibilities for experimenting with new types of business are plenty. If the land is in the ALR, land uses are restricted and agriculture is the priority use, as stated in the Agriculture Land Commission Act and the Agriculture Land Reserve Regulations.
Here are some of the activities and use cases:
Farming and Ranching Activities
| Raising livestock (cattle, bison, sheep, goats, hogs, horses) | Berries |
| Livestock grazing | Tree Fruits |
| Poultry production (chicken, turkeys, waterfowl) | Vegetables (field, greenhouse) |
| Dairy operations | Nuts |
| Apiculture | Grains and oilseeds |
| Agroforestry | Forage crops |
| Grapes | Ornamentals (floriculture, horticultural, nursery crops) |
| Mushrooms | Green housing |
Permitted Farm Uses
| Wineries & Cideries | Farm retail sales |
| Storage, packing & processing of farm products | Temporary or seasonal agri-tourism activities |
| Timber production, harvesting and silviculture | Agroforestry |
| Equestrian facilities | Production of compost with conditions |
| Application of soil amendments | Land development works for farm purposes |
Permitted Non-Farm Uses
| Home-based business | Aggregate extraction of less than 500 m3 |
| Temporary sawmill subject to conditions | Conservation & passive recreation & open land parks |
| Pet kennels and breeding facilities | Education & research (not schools) |
| Production, storage and application of Class A compost | Force mains, trunk sewers, gas and water pipelines within an existing right of way |
| Production & development of biological products used in integrated pest management |
You can read the recent changes to statutes and regulations, or contact me for more information.
