BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. “This was a planned sale as part of the cooperative’s consolidation plan that began in August of 2022,” says Laurel Van …
Marketing board chooses new entrant finalists
ABBOTSFORD – The BC Milk Marketing Board has selected five producers to participate in this year’s New Entrant Program. The board chose four producers from a shortlist of seven candidates selected by random draw earlier this year to enter conventional production. One producer was chosen to meet the demand for organic production out of a …
SAWP points to reforms
Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) could point the way to reforming how foreign workers are treated in Canada, according to a United Nations report. Tomoya Obokata, special rapporteur on the global scourge of modern slavery to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR) issued a statement on September 6 at the end of a two-week …
AI risk rises with fall
The detection of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza at a commercial poultry operation in the County of Warner, Alberta, on the Montana border is a grim reminder that the disease remains a going concern despite a period of relative calm since last winter. BC reported its last case in April, with spring migrations not unleashing …
Cherry promotion promising
A renewed focus on domestic markets got off to a promising start this summer as the BC Cherry Association declared Canadian Cherry Month from July 15 to August 15. While the organization has been attempting to increase domestic Canadian cherry consumption for a couple years, this year the association hired marketing firm t2Marketing International to …
Westwold producers challenge curtailment
Westwold producers rallied September 2 to challenge an August 15 provincial ban on irrigation for forage production in the lower Salmon River watershed east of Westwold. The order signed by BC Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston, was issued under Section 88 of the Water Sustainability Act with a view to protecting the anticipated fall Chinook …