Overview
Farmland Advantage is not a program open to applications from any BC-based farm. The program targets high risk and high opportunity areas in BC based on pre-determined selection criteria. Once these areas have been selected, Farmland Advantage will contact the farmers whose land falls within those boundaries and gauge their interest in participating in the program.
Once a farmer has been contacted by a Farmland Advantage advisor, they can choose whether they would like to participate in the program. Participation is voluntary and includes the following:
Assessment – allow a Farmland Advantage Advisor complete an initial assessment
Collaboration – farmer and advisor work together to decide which action will have the great impact on the land
Implementation – Farmer enters into a contracted agreement and begins implementation
Payment – The farmer receives a modest payment commensurate with the cost of the activities (annual average is $3,000 per site)


Types of Projects
All on-farm activities carried out under Farmland Advantage are agreed upon in advance by the landowner/steward and the Farmland Advantage advisor. Activities must directly support the ecosystem services the program targets and may include:
Tree & shrub planting
Riparian protection infrastructure (i.e. fencing or other barriers)
Weed and/or competitive vegetation management
Thinning trees or shrubs
Seeding
Targeted grazing
Managed fire
Site Selection
Farmland Advantage sites are chosen based on the following factors:
- Funding Priorities – Priorities of funding agencies
- GIS Procedure – Multi-scale GIS procedure to target regions, sub-regions, and sites
- Industry Expertise – Industry expertise on the appropriate GIS mapping layers needed to align target areas with program / funder priorities
- Ranking – Ecosystem Service Potential tool to rank farms based on their potential to contribute to ecosystem services
- Other – Other considerations like watershed, winter range, elevation, slope, and species at risk
The process to select sites is as follows:


Projects & Research
From stream health to grasslands, see a sample of the ongoing projects & research.