LILLOOET – Spray Creek Ranch owners Tristan and Aubyn Banwell say becoming one of five BC farms certified by A Greener World (AGW), a five-year-old certification body based in Terrebonne, Oregon, has been worth the extra effort. They opted for Certified Animal Welfare Approved and Certified Grassfed from AGW because it best aligns with their …
Young farmers crack open new vending concept
AGASSIZ – Willem and Kristin Poortvliet were destined to become farmers, but farmers selling eggs from a vending machine wasn’t something anyone could have predicted. The couple were small-lot egg farmers for nearly three years, selling eggs from a roadside shack on their Agassiz property. When the BC Egg Marketing Board awarded them quota as …
Reducing waste will save money on winter feed
VERNON – Mike Witt, owner of Witt Precision Ag in Lavington, says the first step to cutting feed costs in winter is to cut waste. Producers need to do their best to combat silage shrink. “Silage management and your feed-out management are the two low-hanging fruits,” he says. “You are going to lose nutrients as well …
Province gives well owners three more years to register
Thousands of BC farmers and ranchers at risk of losing their priority water rights at the end of February won’t be outlaws after all. For the third time in as many years, the province extended the deadline for registering wells and applying for groundwater licenses until March 1, 2022. The surprise move came February 19 …
BREAKING NEWS! Groundwater licencing deadline extended
The province has extended the deadline for registering wells and licensing groundwater use for a third time. The new deadline gives producers until March 2, 2022 to register their wells. The surprise move came in view of the fact that only a fraction of non-domestic groundwater users had made a move to register their wells. …
Province boosts risk management funding
There wasn’t much new in the February 19 provincial budget so far as the BC Agriculture Council is concerned, but nothing was lost, either. The budget promises to boost the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s budget by $5 million, funds designed to support risk management efforts at the farm, community and regional level. Business development funding, …