Small-lot growers and hobby farmers helped make Vancouver Island one of the most active farmland markets in the province last year, with demand boosting values by 5.3%. “Demand was high for 10 to 20-acre homesteads, driven by part-time farmers, which resulted in rising values for smaller parcels. Larger farms had a limited market,” Farm Credit …
Province appoints new apiculturist
With beekeepers preparing their colonies for spring, the province has officially announced Abigail Chapman as successor to former provincial apiculturist Paul van Westendorp. BC chief veterinary officer Dr. Theresa Burns made the announcement March 18, officially confirming Chapman’s selection. Word of an appointment circulated at the BC Honey Producers Association annual conference last fall, but …
Board finds overgrazing rules unenforceable, unmeasurable
MERRITT – A BC Forest Practices Board investigation has found instances of non-compliance related to overgrazing have damaged open grasslands in the Mine pasture, part of the Coutlee Range Unit near Merritt. The investigation was initiated after a complaint by two of six range agreement holders who share grazing rights in the Coutlee Range Unit …
Water woes: groundwater under pressure across BC
JAFFRAY – As a young boy growing up in the Kootenay-Boundary region, Randy Reay never expected to run out of water. But this year, in mid-February, his fields are bare. There is no snow halfway up the Rocky Mountains. And he’s digging a new well on one of his Crown tenures because two of his …
Fertilizer prices on the rise
War in the Middle East has delivered a generational shock to energy prices, meaning BC farmers can expect a prolonged period of higher costs not just for fuel but also for fertilizer. While much of western North America’s nitrogen fertilizers are produced locally rather than imported, Okanagan Fertilizer Ltd. president and CEO Ken Clancy says …
New leadership at AgSafe BC
Cameron Stockdale is the new executive director of provincial farm safety organization AgSafeBC, succeeding Wendy Bennett. Bennett left AgSafeBC in September 2025, following 12 years with the association, most recently as executive director. AgSafe posted an ad for a general manager in December, with applications due by January 16. Stockdale took the helm of the …