About us

Country Life in BC has been the agricultural news source for BC’s farmers and ranchers for over 100 years. From berries to beef, dairy to dirt, fruit to feathers and everything in between, if it’s farmed in BC, it’s on our radar. 

Every month, our team of award-winning writers and columnists, as well as our advertising partners, help us deliver news, stories and information that will help BC farmers and ranchers understand their industry better and grow their businesses. 

Our monthly newspaper has been a must-read in farm homes since it was first published in 1915. We recently added a Country Life in BC Farm News Update, delivered by email on Wednesday mornings, to keep our readers up-to-speed between print editions. No other farm publication covers the diversity of BC agriculture or reaches as many farmers and ranchers as Country Life in BC

Of course, we are only as good as our team, and we’ve assembled the best!

Our creative team

Cathy Glover
PUBLISHER

Cathy Glover

Cathy was recruited as Country Life in BC’s beef editor in 1996. By 2000, she had taken on ad sales, and when publisher Peter Wilding retired in 2016, she “bought her job” and took over as publisher. Her life — then and now — revolves around press deadlines, a handful of Paint Horses and life on the family farm.

Peter Mitham
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Peter Mitham

Peter has written for Country Life in BC since 2001. He currently serves as associate editor, bringing more than 25 years’ writing experience to the role. A former staff writer with Business in Vancouver, he is co-author of three books on real estate and recipient of two awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Federation.

David Schmidt
EDITOR EMERITUS

David Schmidt

David Schmidt was the face and voice of Country Life in BC for over 35 years and through three publishers, starting in 1985. A past president of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation, he was the recipient of many writing and lifetime achievement awards including the coveted ScotiaBank Champion of Agriculture in 2018. David passed away in November 2023.

Ronda Payne
WRITER - fraser valley

Ronda Payne

A writer since she could hold a pen, Ronda Payne believes everyone should be forced to take Agriculture 101 taught on a rainy day by a Lower Mainland farmer. She feels closer to those she writes about when she’s fighting pests in her garden and eating sun-warmed raspberries.

Tom Walker
WRITER - okanagan

Tom Walker

Tom writes part time from his home in Kelowna. He enjoys listening to producers’ stories and turning them into print when he is not looking for powder snow, trout in the river or trying to make his grapes grow like the big guys!

Myrna Stark Leader
writer - kelowna

Myrna Stark Leader

If you’ve got a story to tell, Myrna thrives on sharing it. As an award-winning, experienced freelance writer/photographer, Myrna joined the team in 2017. Writing about agriculture continues to inspire her  – particularly innovation and stories that focus on the people who make agriculture great. As past-president and a current director of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation, she has strong connections with farmwriters across Canada.

Barbara Johnstone Grimmer
WRITER - gulf islands

Barbara Johnstone Grimmer

Barbara lives and writes from her mixed family farm in the Gulf Islands. She raises sheep and hay and has recently planted a hazelnut orchard.

Jackie Pearase
WRITER - north okanagan

Jackie Pearase

Jackie is a freelance writer and editor living and working in the North Okanagan

WRITER - VANCOUVER ISLAND

Kate Ayers

Kate grew up on a beef and cash crop farm in Simcoe County, Ontario and completed a degree in agricultural science at the University of Guelph. Kate combined her passions for ag and storytelling by becoming a freelance writer. Now in Victoria, she runs track competitively, training for the Olympics.

WRITER - GULF ISLANDS

Sandra Tretick

It was her love of locally-produced food that first drew Sandra into a career in agriculture communications, and a passion for sharing farmers’ stories that landed her at Country Life in BC. When she’s not out boating and crabbing, Sandra writes and homesteads in the southern Gulf Islands.

WRITER - KOOTENAYS

Tracey Fredrickson

Tracey worked as a journalist for two decades before moving into economic development and business consulting in the Okanagan and Kootenays.  In 2020, she returned to freelance writing, telling the stories about BC farms and businesses from her home in Nelson.

Bob Collins
COLUMNIST - back 40

Bob Collins

Bob is not only an award-winning humourist, his down-to-earth (and award-winning!) commentary on the issues facing BC farmers and ranchers in The Back Forty is a must read every month. He raises beef cattle and grows produce on his farm in the Alberni Valley.

columnist - jude's kitchen

Judie Steeves

Judie loves good local food, with maybe a stellar glass of BC wine alongside, and she’s willing to grow, cook and write about it, too. In fact, she’s been writing about BC agriculture for probably 50 years, but who’s counting? She’s also author of Okanagan Trips and Trails, Black Mountain Gold and Jude’s Kitchen.

Kathleen Gibson
COLUMNIST - OP ED

Kathleen Gibson

Fascinated by the world of food, Kathleen has been writing about it and working on related public policy issues for over 30 years.  A fruit and vegetable garden in Victoria beseiged by urban wildlife daily reinforces her respect for farmers.

Anna Helmer
columnist - farm story

Anna Helmer

Anna has been farming long enough that she can make time for writing. She tries to keep it interesting, entertaining and even accurate. Sometimes that means she can only write about potatoes, which she grows in Pemberton with her family.     

Tina
production designer

Tina Rezansoff

Tina began creating impactful advertising design for CLinBC in 2016. She harnesses 25 years of graphic design, branding and digital marketing experience. This highly skilled layout artist has rural BC roots, and a passion for remote outdoor adventure. She spends her down time spoiling her chickens, gardening and crocheting.

Award-winning journalism

CFWF

2023 LANDSCAPE PHOTO – GOLD

2023 PRODUCTION PHOTO – GOLD

2023 PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPH – GOLD & PHOTO OF THE YEAR

2023 BUSINESS/ECONOMICS REPORTING – Silver

2023 BUSINESS/ECONOMICS REPORTING – Gold

2023 CURRENT AFFAIRS REPORTING – GOLD

2023 OPINION WRITING – SILVER

2023 OPINION WRITING – GOLD

2022 LANDSCAPE PHOTO – GOLD & PHOTO OF THE YEAR

2022 PRODUCTION PHOTO – BRONZE

2022 PRODUCTION PHOTO – SILVER

2022 PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPH – BRONZE

2022 PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPH – GOLD

2022 CURRENT AFFAIRS REPORTING – BRONZE

2022 TECHNICAL FEATURE – GOLD

2022 OPINION WRITING – GOLD

2021 PRESS COLUMN – GOLD

2021 PHOTO PRODUCTION – BRONZE

2020 PRESS  COLUMN – GOLD

2020 PRESS EDITORIAL – SILVER

2020 PRESS FEATURE – SILVER

2020 PHOTO PEOPLE – BRONZE

2020 PHOTO PRODUCTION – SILVER

2020 PHOTO PRODUCTION – BRONZE

2020 PHOTO NATURE – GOLD & PHOTO OF THE YEAR

2019 FEATURE PHOTO – SILVER

2019 NEWS PHOTO – SILVER

2019 NEWS PHOTO – BRONZE

2017 NEWS PHOTO – GOLD

2017 FEATURE PHOTO – SILVER

HANNAH WILLMS Sunflowers flourish October 2022

MYRNA STARK LEADER I spy December 2022

MYRNA STARK LEADER Taking root April 2022


TRACEY FREDRICKSON
Rural communities see surge in farmland sales
Oct 2022

KATE AYERS Farm Co-operatives aim to do business right July 2022


SANDRA TRETICK
Fallow deer rattle Mayne Island Farmers November 2022


BOB COLLINS
The giant trees of our past are feeling the heat Sept 2022

ANNA HELMER Spring demands the old heave-ho March 2022

CHELSEA MEIER Bird’s eye view January 2021


MYRNA STARK LEADER
Night moves August 2021

JEAN-PHILLIPE MARQUIS Snout to the ground August 2021

MURRAY MITCHELL Feeling burned November 2021


RONDA PAYNE
Cranberry fields forever November 2021

JACKIE PEARASE Farmers struggle to get insurance coverage July 2021


KATE AYERS
Helping cattle keep their cool in the heat August 2021

ANNA HELMER To hoard or not to hoard: that is the question November 2021

BOB COLLINS Food security demands out-of-box thinking April 2020

MYRNA STARK LEADER Snow Job November 2020

BOB COLLINS BC farmers need more than a land bank April 2019

PETER MITHAM No peace, no order June 2019

JUDIE STEEVES Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands August 2019

RONDA PAYNE Gaurav Maan is winemaker September 2019

LINDSAY BARTKO Horse power, November 2019

PETER MITHAM Herding hens, November 2019

SARAH ZUBERBUHLER Pat Jasper, October 2019
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RONDA PAYNE Fair Time September 2018

SEAN HITREC What on earth May 2019

MYRNA STARK LEADER Feast of Fields September 2018

RONDA PAYNE Hot Potato October 2017

TAMARA LEIGH Freight farm feeds local niche January 2017