BC-Alberta sign wine MOU

While there’s plenty of work yet to be done, a memorandum of understanding BC and Alberta signed this week will allow BC wineries to ship direct to consumers in Alberta after years of running battles over the issue.

The latest occurred this past winter, when Alberta blocked shipments from BC wineries – salt in the wounds of many, who had just seen a severe frost wipe out prospects of a 2024 vintage.

While shipments to Alberta account for just 1.1% to 2.75% of the business BC wineries do with Alberta, it is critical to serving customers and gaining exposure. Many see it as an unnecessary trade barrier, one that was ostensibly knocked down five years ago.

In June 2019, the federal government amended the Importation of Intoxicating Liquor Act to eliminate federal restrictions on interprovincial liquor shipments.

While each province could enact laws regulating liquor within their boundaries, interprovincial shipments were declared to be a federal matter.

The MOU announced July 16 confirms this, and couldn’t come at a better point in the year, according to industry advocacy group Wine Growers BC.

“The end of the Calgary Stampede marks the unofficial start of summer when visitors from Alberta flock to BC,” explains Wine Growers BC president and CEO Miles Prodan. “Today’s announcement brings a bit of welcome stability to the BC wine industry.”

Of course, many wineries have shipped to addresses in Alberta for years. However, the agreement to formally allow the practice is good news, especially as wineries seek to hold onto customers through the coming shortage of wines made wholly with BC grapes.

Discussions remain ongoing as to how wineries will maintain cash flow through the challenging days ahead. A federal support program for the industry has not been announced, and the idea of selling wines made from grapes grown outside the province has drawn mixed reactions from producers and consumers alike.

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14 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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5 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.