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September 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 9

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1 day ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
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Patti 😊

3 days ago

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3 days ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle...
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4 days ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lake Country packing house sold

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BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
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Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

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5 days ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
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BCAC defends pot growers

August 21, 2019 byPeter Mitham

Cannabis should be treated just like any other agricultural crop, according to the BC Agriculture Council, which is opposing a bid by Metro Vancouver to regulate odours from pot producers and processors.

Metro Vancouver launched a public consultation in June on the proposed cannabis emissions regulation. The consultation wraps up September 30.

“Cannabis production has the potential to cause negative air quality impacts if emissions are not adequately controlled,” a discussion paper regarding the regulation states. “A number of greenhouses formerly used for vegetable production have been retrofitted for cannabis production, yet were not designed or constructed to collect and treat air contaminants.”

The paper says that Metro Vancouver and its member municipalities have received complaints about odours from cannabis farms. It notes that filters, odour neutralizers, thermal oxidation and ozone generators are control tools at growers’ disposal to manage the smells, which it classifies as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.

But the BC Agriculture Council points out that right-to-farm legislation doesn’t give municipalities the right to regulate normal farm practices.

“Metro Vancouver has the legitimate authority to regulate air emissions (like VOCs), but it does not have the authority to regulate odour on agricultural lands,” it explains, arguing that odours are being classified as noxious emissions in order to claim control over them.

“BCAC has determined that this issue could establish a precedent for the entire agriculture industry,” it says.

To avoid this, it says that cannabis production should be regulated in the same way as every other crop, and that means referring concerns about farm practices to the Farm Industry Review Board.

Odour from cannabis production has been a lingering question, when media questioned BC agriculture minister Lana Popham on the matter. She said the concerns around cannabis fit right in with concerns regarding other odours.

“There’s always going to be a conflict between agriculture and development living side by side. I think over the past seven years or so there’s been more of an understanding as consumers are embracing our local food movement, and where our food comes from,” she said. “As the cannabis industry grows, we are going to have to deal with that.”

However, she has recused herself from the cannabis file because her partner, physician Rob Sealey, issues prescriptions for medicinal cannabis (her recusal covers recreational cannabis as well).

Yet her ministry needs to take note of what Metro Vancouver is doing, in the interests of all farmers.

“The provincial government must stand up to Metro Vancouver and support BC farmers and ranchers,” BCAC says.

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