Farm status requires proof

Two years after the province cut farmers some slack when it came to proving their qualification for farm class status with BC Assessment, proof is once again required.

“We have currently returned to [the] standard practice of mailouts/income requests to property owners as per regulations to maintain/qualify for farm class for the 2023 roll,” BC Assessment told Country Life in BC.

Provincial regulations require that properties of between 2 and 10 acres generate at least $2,500 to receive farm status. Smaller properties must generate revenues of $10,000 while larger properties must generate $2,500 plus 5% of the actual value of the farm property in excess of 10 acres.

The province waived the proof of income requirement for the 2021 tax roll for existing holders of farm class status, then extended the exemption for the 2022 roll given the ongoing pandemic and public health restrictions that limited direct sales opportunities for many smaller farms. (New applications and properties where the ownership, tenancy or usage had changed still needed to provide proof of farm income.)

The exemption was designed to allow small farmers who had suffered a loss of income as a result of COVID-19 to maintain farm status until the economy normalized. The resumption of the qualification process signals that the province considers this to have happened, but the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food says it is monitoring assessment data to determine whether or not to extend the exemption for a third year.

According to BC agriculture minister Lana Popham, 400 properties retained farm class status in 2021 as a result of the exemption. BC Assessment says approximately 52,000 properties in the province are classified as farms.

While the exemption made it easier for properties to maintain farm class status, the BC Agriculture Council would like to see the income threshold raised.

In its submission to the province’s budget consultations undertaken by the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, BCAC urged the province to review the BC Assessment Act “to identify new thresholds and other opportunities to improve Farm Classification that ensure the integrity of the ALR” in keeping with the recommendations of Popham’s own committee struck to advise her on ways to revitalize the Agricultural Land Reserve, which turns 50 next year.