Sap and Sperm Farmers

The recently-held provincial farm assessment review has resulted in a new bill, passed March 15th, 2012, which adjusts property classifications and provides additional qualifying products.  Many farmers had expressed frustration with the previous need to earn $10,000 for smaller farm properties.

Previously:

• $10,000 for properties of less than 8,000 m² (2 acres).

• $2,500 for properties between 8,000 m² (2 acres) and 4 hectares (10 acres).  The $2,500 had not been adjusted (upward) since 1994.

•  For properties larger than 4 hectares (10 acres) - $2,500 plus 5 percent of the actual value of any farm land in excess of 4 hectares.

Frequently asked questions are listed here:  Bill 8.


The British Columbia Assessment Authority has now issued four more recommendations arising from the in-depth 70-page Farm Assessment Review, with revisions to take effect in 2013.

Briefly, revisions include:

• increase the tax exemption limit on farm outbuilding improvements (excluding residences);
• extend farmers' dwelling and home site farm classification to retired farmers in the Agricultural Land Reserve for farms that stay in production;
• reduce the administrative paperwork for farmers by changing the farm income reporting period to be consistent with each farmer's Canada Revenue Agency income tax reporting period (i.e. "calendar" or fiscal year for proprietors or partnerships);
• provide more flexibility in meeting the requirements to maintain farm status by expanding the list of qualifying agricultural products.  Three new products will be added to the list:  (a)  broadleaf maple and birch sap or syrup; (b) breeding products (i.e. livestock semen/ova and embryos produced as part of livestock raising); (c) horse stud services provided as part of horse rearing.

Read the entire Bill 8 (third reading) here.

Last year's quote from a member of Coldstream's Agriculture Advisory Panel, "you can't make a living farming 10 or 20 acres here" rings in our ears.

Yet this Mayor and Council are hell-bent that all Coldstream acreage owners will farm. 
And like children, they just need some incentive, some encouragement.
So B.C. Assessment will help.

Currently some properties that are not actively farmed are "split classified" for assessment purposes; the new plan seeks to amend that with actively farmed parcels not being split classified (between residential and farm operations).

So it's only natural that government wishes to increase the list of products that qualify for farm classifications.

Of note (and concern) is that last year's public comments and open house aren't included in Coldstream's background data here.  But a whole whack of older documents have been added that didn't exist previously on the website page. 

Maybe the District of Coldstream will get around to adding the Public Comments from the recent Open House...eventually.
But if not, the "uncut/unsanitized" version is here:

A criticism listed in the Farm Assessment Review (page 22 of 70) stated:  "No-one in Victoria's B.C. Assessment office has any hands-on farming experience."

"We know the feeling," offers Kia, "maybe officials should be force-farming too."
 

 Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery (Winston Churchill)