BC Turkey names executive director

Natalie Veles is the new executive director of the BC Turkey Marketing Board and BC Turkey Growers Association, succeeding Michel Benoit, who stepped down in April after more than 15 years as general manager.

Veles comes to the board from Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, where she served for three and a half years as program director. She began November 1.

“I was always very intrigued and interested in the [supply management] system and working for producers in that way,” she says, noting that the turkey sector has given her a warm welcome.

“Everybody’s been really keen to help me out and get me oriented to the industry.”

Veles began her career as an economist and policy analyst at the Canadian Dairy Commission before a lateral transfer within the federal government returned her to Vancouver and the Agriculture and Agri-food Canada regional office for BC. She grew up on a dairy farm in Cloverdale.

Similar to Benoit, Veles is fluently bilingual. This will be an asset in discussions with growers in Eastern Canada, particularly Quebec, helping foster national cooperation.

Returning to the supply-managed sector, Veles has her sights set on a revamped marketing plan for BC’s turkey sector. A new strategic plan for the marketing board is also on tap for 2023, but she wants to understand the current state of the industry before pursuing any major changes.

“I am just trying to get a really good handle on how things have been done and what industry priorities are before changing too much,” she says.

Avian influenza is also on the agenda as the poultry sector as a whole moves to a long-term management plan for the disease, shifting from the current emergency response stance.

Turkey growers have been among the hardest-hit segments of the poultry industry this year.

The move to BC Turkey is not the only major change for Veles this year. This spring, she was one of two independent directors appointed to the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission.

She also married this summer, prior to which she was known as Natalie Janssens.

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16 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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6 days ago

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.