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MAY 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 4

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1 week ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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2 weeks ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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2 weeks ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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2 weeks ago

Eric Feehely and Miho Shinbo are growing 30+ crops on 2.5 acres in Vernon. Writer Myrna Stark Leader takes a look at how Silverstar Veggies is balancing CSA programs, farmers markets and restaurant sales while planning smart expansions in challenging economic times in Market farm works smarter, not harder.

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Market farm works smarter, not harder

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VERNON – Silverstar Veggies, a five-year-old mixed vegetable and herb farm in Vernon, thrives on passion and innovative ideas. A former watersport and adventure sport instructor…
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4 weeks ago

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BC farmers markets go online

April 1, 2020 byRonda Payne

Approximately 70 farmers markets in BC plan to take online orders this summer thanks to a provincial grant of $55,000.

“The online thing is not replacing physical farmers markets,” says Heather O’Hara, exective director of the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, which represents 145 markets across the province.

Online sales won’t replace what the province’s farmers markets do each summer, but aims to make them more efficient as they focus on providing food in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health guidelines mandating social distancing have been slowing sales at the province’s markets even as demand for local produce surges.

Moss Street Market in Victoria has already launched its store offering both delivery and pickup options. The platform BCAFM offers will be run by Local Line, which is based in Ontario.

“It gave our markets the most flexibility,” explains O’Hara.

Many vendors have yet to hear about the option, like Nan Kim and husband Suho Lee of Black Table Farm in Aldergrove. The couple sells at the Fort Langley Village Farmers’ Market. While the market manager has asked Black Table Farm to grow more because he believes demand will be higher, Kim doesn’t know if her market will have an online store.

While she’s interested in online sales, Kim wonders how delivery will work.

“As people are isolated, would we deliver to their home?” she wonders. “How do we protect ourselves? I have a newborn.”

O’Hara says most markets plan to allow consumers to order and/or buy from individual vendors through a page set up by the individual market on the platform provided by Local Line. Some will also allow shoppers to buy from a number of vendors, with their purchases aggregated for pick-up or delivery.

Consumers will have the option to pre-pay or pay on delivery.

“Every market is going to be managing and handling things differently,” she says. “There’s not a one size fits all.”

The provincial funding provided through the Buy BC program will cover fees for individual markets to join the online platform and set up their online store.

 

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