It didn't get nearly the kind of sustained news coverage it deserved, but the report by B.C. auditor-general John Doyle on the state of the province's Agriculture Land Reserve should be cause for concern.

Doyle raised two key issues that have the potential of seriously threatening the ALR's future viability and value.

First, he notes the budget for the Agriculture Land Commission has dramatically declined in recent years, thus impairing the commission's ability to ensure preservation of land and monitoring compliance of regulations.

Second, he notes that while the total amount of land in the reserve has remained relatively stable over the years, a significant amount of prime farmland has been taken out while less-valuable land in the north has been added.

The ALR was established in 1973 by the New Democratic Party government of the day. Along with the creation of the Labor Relations Board and the Insurance Corp. of B.C., establishing the ALR has to rank as one of the lasting legacies of that government. At a time when ensuring an on-going food supply becomes more and more important (as climate change begins to alter agriculture practices around the world) it is critical that B.C.'s lush and precious farmland be protected.

Doyle, who is quickly earning a reputation as a no-nonsense, independent watchdog of government, points out the annual budget for the commission has shrunk from almost $3 million at the beginning of this government's first term to barely more than $2 million. That's a cut of one-third and it has led to fewer staff and resources, which makes ongoing preservation of farmland that much harder to accomplish.

Meanwhile, the loss of prime farmland is even more worrisome. Since the ALR's creation, Vancouver Island has lost 13 per cent of its prime farmland, while the Okanagan has lost 12 per cent and the Lower Mainland (primarily the Fraser Valley) has lost eight per cent.

The development pressures that come with population growth are mostly to blame for the loss of good farmland. When the ALR was first established, for example, places such as Surrey, Delta and Langley were barely populated compared to the number of people who live there now. Whole farms have been replaced by huge subdivisions and highway projects (I remember a large sheep and vegetable farm being directly across the road from my grandparents' home on Saltspring Island; a parking lot, tennis courts and a soccer field are there now).

The picture is not entirely gloomy, however. Agriculture Minister Steve Thomson seems to get the idea that more has to be done to protect the ALR.

Thomson, who comes from a farming family, is a former executive director of the B.C. Agriculture Council and he has emerged as one of the steadiest hands in the B.C. Liberal government.

He has asked the new chair of the ALC, Richard Bullock, to tour the province and meet with agriculture groups and other stakeholders to get a sense of the challenges faced by the ALC.

Now, there's no question more housing and transportation networks will have to be built in the years ahead. And it's more than likely that some ALR land will form part of future treaties with First Nations bands.

But Doyle's report is a timely reminder that protecting our food supply should be of paramount importance. I suspect the NDP will make preserving the ALR a key part of its election platform come 2013. If that party does indeed gain power, it will be interesting to see if it takes a look back at the record of its predecessor in the 1970s to gain a sense of proper priorities.

- Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC. Contact him atL KBaldrey@globaltv.com.