Christmas greenery was in strong demand and ample supply this week, despite some challenges shipping product to market in late November. “The actual interest in Christmas products at the retail level, it was probably one of the strongest years we’ve seen in many years,” says Stan Vander Waal, president of Rainbow Greenhouses Inc. in Chilliwack. …
Growers cool to ice wine
The wine won’t be ready for Christmas, but grape growers picked the first grapes for this year’s ice wine harvest in the early hours of December 17 as temperatures fell below -10° Celsius at sites in Kelowna, Summerland and Okanagan Falls. By law, temperatures must reach -8° Celsius to allow the frozen grapes to be …
BC Chicken picks Siemens
The new year will see a new executive director in place at the BC Chicken Marketing Board. BC Chicken announced this week that Woody Siemens, currently supply chain and business development director with the BC Milk Marketing Board, would succeed Bill Vanderspek as executive director on January 4. Vanderspek retired from the chicken board August …
Food price realities differ
An annual forecast of food price trends across Canada is once more predicting higher grocery prices in BC, but the province hasn’t lived up to past expectations. The current edition of Canada’s Food Price Report, led by Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University, draws on the research of teams at the University of Guelph, University of …
Outstanding service acknowledged
Dave Woodske’s service to the greenhouse and nursery sector was honoured December 2 at the annual awards of the BC Landscape and Nursery Association. Woodske retired as the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries’ floriculture and greenhouse specialist in March 2020, shortly after COVID-19 hit. The restrictions on gatherings last year led to cancellation …
Flood recovery will take time
The floodwaters are finally receding in the Lower Mainland, but farmers across southwestern BC now face the monumental challenge of cleaning up their properties. Just 500 properties in the Fraser Valley remained under evacuation orders on December 7, according to the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Those farmers who have returned have been …