In the last five years, the number of farms in the Township of Langley has decreased, but the profitability of these operations has gone up, according to the 2016 Census of Agriculture.
A summary of the census released by Metro Vancouver compares regional data from Langley, Burnaby, Delta, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver and “Greater Vancouver A,” which includes parts of Barnston Island, Port Coquitlam and other municipalities that may have farms.
According to the report, in Langley from 2011 to 2016 the number of farms decreased by 19 per cent, and the amount of farmland decreased from 14,978 hectares in 2011 to 10,807 hectares in 2016.
These statistics follow the overall trend for Metro Vancouver, where the amount of farmland has hit a 20-year low of 38,380 hectares.
Despite that, the Township still has the most farms in the region, at 1,103, but the size of these farms is smaller than in other municipalities.
On average, farms are 10 hectares (24.7 acres) in Langley, with approximately 49 per cent of them under four hectares in size; 44 per cent between four and 28 hectares; 7 per cent between 28 and 162 hectares; and 0.5 per cent larger than 162 hectares.
Delta, by comparison, has 185 farms averaging 49 hectares in size. Richmond has 189 of farms averaging 17 hectares and Surrey has 439 farms averaging 16 hectares.
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“We’ve seen a drop in the number of farms and I think we’re seeing some consolidation of farms that is having an effect on the number of farms,” Mayor Jack Froese said during council’s Sept. 11 meeting.
“Also probably one of the reasons … is that some of our urban containment area used to be farmed and now those farms are being developed into housing as part of our Willoughby plan and Brookswood plan.”
Coun. Charlie Fox pointed out that the decrease in the number of farms does not correlate to the amount of land in the Agriculture Land Reserve.
“In reality, since 2006, the amount of land in the ALR in the Township of Langley has gone down 0.1 per cent,” Fox said.
“If it went down 19 per cent in the last year, or five years, that would have meant that 94 per cent of the Township of Langley was in the ALR five years ago. And 94 per cent was never in the ALR. It’s been basically hovering at 75 per cent since 2005 when I became a member of council.”
Coun. David Davis, who operates a dairy farm that was established by his great-grandfather in 1872, believes that part of this trend is caused by people losing their connections to the farm.
“I think the important thing about agriculture is that we are losing our family farms in Canada, and not only in Canada but in the Township of Langley,” he said.
“People are getting further and further away from the farm through generations and generations. You don’t have to go back very far — in the ’50s and ’60s — and people were linked right to the farm. And as generations move further and further away from the farm, that makes less farmers.
“And I think that Mayor Froese is right, that the amalgamation of farms, you know, somebody buys the neighbour out … it’s just like in dairies and dairying in the Township of Langley. Well, actually in B.C., in the ’70s we had 1,800 dairy producers. Now we’re down to under 500. So your numbers go down, (but there is) the same amount of cows, same amount of milk.”
| In Langley, there were 64 farms with bee colonies in 2016. Langley Times file photo. |
CROPS AND LIVESTOCK
More than half of the land on Langley farms is used to grow crops (53 per cent), while the remainder is used for unmanaged pasture (17 per cent); “other uses” (16 per cent); woodlands and wetlands (8 per cent); managed pasture (6 per cent); and summerfallow (0.3 per cent).
Of those with crop production, most farms are growing hay and field crops (341 farms); fruit, nuts and berries (226 farms); nursery and sod (124 farms); vegetables (113 farms); greenhouse products (74 farms); mushrooms (16 farms); and potatoes (15 farms).
Numerous others have livestock, with 230 farms raising cattle and calves; 334 with chickens and hens; 33 with turkeys; 81 with other poultry; 240 with egg production; 114 with sheep and lambs; 298 with horses and ponies; and 64 with bee colonies.
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The way that these farms interact with the consumer is also changing. Many are now choosing to use direct marketing, where the farmer sells directly to their customers.
Thirty-one percent of farms in Langley are using this method, with 26 farms selling value-added products, 327 offering farm gate sales, stands or U-pick, 39 selling at farmers’ markets and five using community supported agriculture.
“Our farmgate sales were $340 million in 2016, and that’s up from about $270 million five years ago,” Mayor Froese said.
“It was good to see that our farm gate revenue in the Township of Langley is still the highest in Metro Vancouver, and it is increasing, which is very positive. And all of that money is revenue that comes back into our economy and provides for jobs.”
The quality of food sold through direct marketing also tends to be higher, Davis added. He discovered this while participating in the Township’s eat local challenge earlier this year.
“The one thing I noticed on about the third day is that you can’t buy junk food when you go to certain stores — like a turkey farm or like Kensington Prairie, Bonetti — you can’t go in there and buy junk food,” he said.
“So when you buy local, generally you’re not buying junk.”
| In Langley, there were 334 farms with chickens and hens in 2016. Langley Times file photo. |
PROFITABILITY INCREASES
The amount of money being brought in by farms has also increased by 23 per cent from 2010-2015 in Langley. But the cost of running these farms has gone up by 16 per cent.
Gross farm receipts — which refers to agricultural products sold, program payments and custom work — were $340,111,011 in Langley in 2015 — the highest of all municipalities in Metro Vancouver. The region as a whole has the highest dollar per hectare earnings in B.C., at $24,872 per hectare. In Langley, this number is slightly higher at $31,471 per hectare.
With that, profitability has increased, with the ratio of expenses to receipts changing from 0.91 in 2010 to 0.86 in 2015. That means that for every 86 cents spent on expenses, a dollar is received in receipts.
Froese believes this change has a lot to do with farmers diversifying and becoming more entrepreneurial.
“The ratio of expenses to revenue has come down a little bit so you can see there’s more profitability, and the dollars per acre has increased quite a bit in the Township of Langley. So obviously you can see that (on the) cranberry farms, blueberry farms, poultry farms … there’s more intense farming, so the dollars per acre revenue is higher than in other regions in Canada.”
The average age of farmers has gone up as well from 51.8 years in 2011 to 57.2 years in 2016.
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In Langley, 95 farm operators were under the age of 35, 540 farmers were between the ages of 35 and 54, and 980 farmers were 55 years and older.
Of these operators, 62 per cent were male and 38 per cent were female.
miranda@langleytimes.com
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Metro Van 2016 Census of Agriculture Results by Miranda Gathercole on Scribd