KELOWNA – New regulations under the federal Pest Control Products Act now restrict the practice of tank-mixing to only products that are labelled specifically for mixing. “Under the old regulations, products could be tank-mixed if they were both labelled as registered to be used on a crop and did not specify otherwise,” provincial pesticide specialist …
Industry looks to move needle on labour shortage
Two new initiatives are digging into solutions to the perennial labour shortage facing BC producers. A report released by the BC Fruit Growers Association on March 31 analyzes temporary foreign worker programs in the US and Canada with a view to helping smaller operations access labour. The report proposes a pilot project that could reduce …
Carbon tax relief begins
Details of the new point-of-sale carbon tax rebate for greenhouse growers were announced this week as the new scheme took effect. Originally announced in the February 28 provincial budget, the point-of-sale rebate means eligible greenhouse growers will pay just 20% of the carbon tax levied on natural gas and propane purchased to heat their greenhouses …
New business registry planned
The province will develop a new registry designed to deepen its tracking of business ownership and corporate investment. On March 29, the BC Ministry of Finance announced that it would “end hidden ownership” in private businesses through the creation of a public registry of beneficial owners. The move parallels a federal bid to create a …
Watershed strategy could hang ag out to dry
VICTORIA – The province’s proposed watershed security strategy is big on local governance but short on protections for agriculture, say critics of an intentions paper released March 6. “This is a very complex, high-level document,” says Elaine Stovin assistant general manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association. “But it contains very little actual policy on how …
Crossroads ahead for BC farmland
DELTA – Jutting out into the Strait of Georgia, the rich soils of Brunswick Point are a gift of the Fraser River’s run south from its headwaters in the Fraser Pass of the Rockies. The longest river in BC, the deposits here encapsulate the wealth of the province – a wealth fundamental to the most …