ABBOTSFORD – There are reportedly over 1,000 hog producers in BC but only nine farms were represented at the BC Hog Marketing Commission and BC Pork Producers Association annual meetings in Abbotsford, April 3. Still, BCHMC and BCPPA general manager Christine Koch considers that an excellent turnout, noting there are only 15 producers registered with …
Farm initiative puts heart back in agriculture
KELOWNA – A 22.5-acre piece of land in the Lower Mission neighbourhood of Kelowna, one of the city’s best farming areas, is fulfilling the wishes of longtime owners Gordon and Helen Ziegler. In 2013, Gordon wanted to give the property to a community organization on the condition that it be used to benefit the community …
Water fees questioned
A rancher in Charlie Lake is questioning why farmers must pay to access groundwater when short-term use of groundwater is exempt. Mark Meiers of MT Ranch near Fort St. John notes that the province’s Water Sustainability Act allows users to apply for a short-term permit. Such permits grant the holders a right “to divert or …
Innovation challenge relaunched
The province launched the latest edition of the Agritech Innovation Challenge on April 17, after a soft launch at the BC Tech Summit in Vancouver a month earlier. Overseen by the BC Innovation Council with $150,0000 in funding from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, the challenge targets three areas for innovation: food processing, food traceability, …
Cowichan Valley seeks sub-appellation
Cowichan Valley wineries and grape growers are rallying behind a proposal to create Vancouver Island’s first sub-appellation. A proposal to designate the Cowichan Valley a sub-geographical indication (GI, or appellation) of the larger Vancouver Island appellation was filed with the BC Wine Authority on April 16. “The proposed sub-GI has been identified as a unique …
Greenhouse vegetables rebound from cannabis
Vegetable production isn’t going to pot in the Lower Mainland, attendees of the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission’s annual general meeting heard April 10. A year ago, the removal of 96 acres of regulated greenhouse acreage – primarily sweet bell peppers – for cannabis production threatened to squeeze commission revenues. “We can speculate that that number …