Weather woes and road closures continue to plague BC farmers, who entered the new year facing disruptions due to snow and ice. Arctic inflows sent temperatures across BC plummeting to record lows at the end of December, just six months after the province shattered high temperature records. Growers in the Lower Mainland still reeling from …
Chicken board gets a makeover
Chicken growers will have a greater say in the BC Chicken Marketing Board’s decisions following a provincial order in council issued June 19. Changes that take effect September 1 will give growers the opportunity to elect three members of the five-person board, up from two elected grower positions today. Those three grower members will also, …
Full circle for Okanagan Specialty Fruits
BC biotech success story Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF) is once more BC-owned, following its purchase this week by founder Neal Carter. Bought by Intrexon Corp. in 2015, the year its genetically engineered non-browning apples were approved for commercial production in the US, OSF was sold to venture capital firm TS Biotechnology Holdings LLC in …
BCAC policy forum kicks off
Penticton is the scene this week for the BC Agriculture Council’s new flagship event for the BC farm and ranch sector, the BC Agriculture Forum. Scheduled for June 24-25, the event replaces the gala that preceded the Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford each year until 2025. Rather than simply a social event celebrating the best …
Farm communities unite for provincial funding
SUMMERLAND – BC’s small agricultural communities are working together to make a collective pitch for more farm infrastructure funding from the province. Summerland mayor Doug Holmes, along with Pitt Meadows mayor Nicole McDonald and North Cowichan mayor Rob Douglas, proposed the idea of an Agricultural Municipality Initiative (AMI) for farmland to BC agriculture minister Lana …
Drought forces Salmon River farmers to act
WESTWOLD – Hay producer Clay Abel knows it isn’t a matter of if, but when, the province will shut off his aquifer this summer. It happens often, usually in mid-August, with the province arguing the water levels are too low in the Salmon River. “I really suspect we’re going to have the same issue this …