Farmers' RV parks sowing concern in Kelowna

[markopolo]

From the Globe and Mail:

Farmers' RV parks sowing concern in Kelowna
Link: http://tgam.ca/O3d

Faced with fruit prices that in some cases have fallen below the cost of production, more and more Kelowna farmers are taking advantage of regulations allowing them to put small RV parks on their land.

I like the idea of camping on a small farm.

The main worry is that RV parks are replacing agriculture rather than supporting it.

That could be a problem.

“The farms have become secondary,” said Sam Dimaria, a Kelowna farmer opposed to the parks. “The amount of infrastructure that goes into constructing these RV parks – I can tell you that this land will never ever be converted back to agriculture. … Too much money is being put into it.”

Good point.

Paula Morrison has seen RV parks pop up on three different properties near her 10-acre hay farm. As a result, she has had to deal with drunk campers wandering through her freshly seeded field and dogs running off-leash through her crops.

That's not good.

The city estimates that between 14 and 16 farms now feature RV parks, and city council has been hearing from neighbours worried about the impact. It will hold public hearings next month, as it considers a bylaw that would make it harder to set up an RV park and restrict the number of recreational vehicle sites to five per farm.

5 sites is kind of small............

I hope they can make this work. Camping on a small farm appeals to me. I think it would be a nice RV'ing experience.

[markopolo]

Here's a link to a small farm / RV park combo: http://www.quailsviewfarm.com/history.html

[Johnny R]

What? the price of fruit is going down? Where? Lemme at it!

All kidding aside, preservation of agricultural land should be a much higher priority than RV parks or urban sprawl, IMHO. The stability and strength of a country is it's agricultural land.

[Mike]

Is it harder to make a living farming in Canada because of the labour costs?
I often wonder if it has to do with that.
All things being equal in terms of growing stuff, what does it cost to plant/harvest
produce in Alberta versus California versus Costa Rica versus Chile for example?

I agree that if I'm out that way sometime, I might like to spend a night or two
on a farmer's lot, if it'll help them in some way to keep the other side of things
viable. If it looks like there's no hope for, or intent to create agri-use, then
it's price/performance in a park/cg that I look for.

[VernM]

Or, Mike, you could move down to Ioway (not that far) and buy The Field of Dreams farm (you remember the movie?). It's near Dyersville on Highway 20 in the eastern part of the state. It'd make a great RV park for baseball and movie fans. Even at US/Canadian dollar exchange.

[Mike]

Hey Vern,
Sounds like a plan. I've always wanted to own a baseball park surrounded by corn.
Actually we drove back through Iowa last March and didn't even think to stop.
If I remember, next time we're in the area, we'll make the side trip.

It would be a cool spot for an RV park, even if only for dry camping.