A farmland trust will be established this fall to help BC farmers transition land at affordable rates to a new generation of farmers, the BC Agriculture Council announced at the inaugural BC Agriculture Forum in Penticton, June 24-25. “We are building it ourselves and we are inviting government to come alongside us,” BCAC president Jennifer …
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 …
Table grape growers eye opportunities
LANGLEY – Gorgi Petkov still remembers the big, juicy table grapes grown in his home country of Macedonia – and he’s on a mission to create similar varieties in BC. Petkov, vineyard manager of Fairmeade Estate in Langley, is trialling three new table grape varieties – Ivory, Timpson and Strawberry Grape – for the Lower …
Cash Flows
VERNON – Water restrictions intensified across the southern Interior in late July, with record low stream flows clouding the cash outlook for ranches and orchards. Fourteen agricultural water users served by Greater Vernon Water (GVW) who maxed out their allocations were shut down by the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) in mid-July, including one …
BC ranchers brace for wildfires
Prolonged drought conditions and the threat of dry lightning across the province are boosting the chances for a spike in wildfire activity this week. Cliff Chapman, provincial operations director with the BC Wildfire Service, expects the next few days to be challenging, especially in the Cariboo, Southeast and Kamloops fire centres. “We’ve never seen fuel …
KPU sets up research hopyard
Kwantlen Polytechnic University has set up a research hopyard at the Molson Coors plant in Chilliwack to support its ongoing research and new variety development. “We’re excited to work with Molson Coors in supporting local farmers through this multi-year project,” says Paul Adams, director of KPU’s Applied Genomics Centre, where researcher Mathias Scheutz oversees the …