A popular agri-tourism destination and demonstration farm in Abbotsford has rebranded to reflect its growing scope of operations. Bill Vanderkooi, chair of the non-profit EcoFarm Innovation Association (formerly EcoDairy Innovation Association), made the announcement on Earth Day, April 22, with special guests including Abbotsford mayor Ross Siemens, Abbotsford MP Ed Fast and former Science World …
Cowboys honoured
This year’s inductees into the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame at the Museum of the Cariboo-Chilcotin in Williams Lake include a well-known farm and ranch safety advocate. Reg Steward was one of four inductees at this year’s ceremony on April 16, which also celebrated the contributions of working cowboy John Young, Okanagan horseman Allan Macdonnell …
ALR settles Treaty 8 claims
First Nations will receive approximately 27,000 acres of protected agricultural land in BC’s Peace Region as a result of settlement agreements addressing their land entitlements claims under Treaty 8, signed in 1899. “For more than 100 years, the First Nations were deprived of the use and benefit of thousands of acres of land owed to …
Northern vets in short supply
The province’s recent pledge to permanently fund 40 seats for BC students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon was welcome news to the livestock and poultry sectors, but a new study says a local option is needed to support local food production. “As you go further north in and around the Peace, …
Abbotsford Tulip Festival returns
The first tulip festival in Abbotsford since 2019 promises to be bigger than ever as it kicks off a summer of floral festivities in the Fraser Valley. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, as well as a …
Wine industry faces losses
Winegrowers across the province welcomed bountiful yields of high-quality fruit in 2022, according to Wine Growers BC in its annual vintage report released this week, but the coming season is likely to see yields significantly below normal. An extreme cold weather event on December 21-22 saw temperatures in the province’s major wine-growing regions fall below …