Berg appointed WMP CEO

A swift but extensive selection process has secured the Western Milk Pool a chief executive officer to oversee the group’s transformation into the coordinating body for the five Western dairy associations.

Nolan Berg of Edmonton was chosen following interviews in mid April that reviewed a shortlist of candidates from both within and outside WMP’s member organizations, which include both the BC Dairy Association and BC Milk Marketing Board.

“Nolan Berg is a seasoned agribusiness leader with a track record of building teams, transforming organizations to fully realize their potential and delivering results,” WMP said in a statement announcing Berg’s selection. “He brings over 30 years of experience working for and consulting to a broad range of organizations across Canada, the US, and overseas.”

That experience includes early roles as a product manager with Novartis and Dupont as well as 22 years in executive roles, primarily in the marketing field, for companies ranging from energy to agribusiness.

“Nolan brings important leadership to the operational management of WMP, particularly as we navigate through the important next steps of our future-state planning which will demand transparency, clear communication and trust,” says WMP chair Henry Holtmann, noting Berg’s “impressive track record of building organizations in a fast-changing environment using an extremely collaborative approach.”

Berg is committed to a “relentless focus on collaboration” in his new role “to achieve the goal of providing a more organized, unified voice for western dairy farmers.”

Speaking to Lower Mainland dairy farmers in late March, BC Dairy Association chair Holger Schwichtenberg said the new CEO’s responsibilities would include updating the board on operations, fostering a collaborative culture and serve as a spokesperson on operational issues.

Schwichtenberg, alongside BC Milk chair Janice Comeau and Jeremy Wiebe are BC’s representatives to the new WMP board to which Berg reports.

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7 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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4 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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5 days ago

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.