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Current Issue:

September 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 9

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4 days 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 😊

6 days ago

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7 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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1 week 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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1 week 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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Borrowing costs begin to bite

June 15, 2022 byKate Ayers

Three increases this year to the Bank of Canada’s overnight lending rate are raising financing costs for farmers.

The central bank’s benchmark rate increased to 1.5% on June 1, six times what it was at the start of the year. Prior to the first increase in March, the benchmark rate had been 0.25% since March 27, 2020.

Higher interest rates typically aim to cool inflation, but they also boost borrowing costs.

Unfortunately, producers vulnerable to higher borrowing costs have limited options for mitigating the impacts at this point in the season, says Farm Credit Canada chief economist J.P. Gervais.

“There is not a whole lot that you can do beyond what you would already be expected to do,” says Gervias, encouraging farmers to “continuously evaluate the return on applying fertilizer, maximizing yields.”

While the impacts of rising interest rates depend on the sector, Gervais encourages producers to evaluate their financial risk and risk exposure.

This is particularly true for livestock producers, where margins are tight because feed prices have increased faster than livestock prices.

“If you are in a very tight situation to begin with, and you were exposed to some financial risk in the sense of higher interest rates, it’s not necessarily good news,” he says. “Those businesses will see their margins being tighter and that should lead them to scale back on maybe some inputs going forward.”

The story is a bit different for crop producers.

“For grains and oilseeds, if you look at profitability, I think they still have very good margins. Yes, inputs are higher but overall prices are really, really good,” Gervais says. “The expectation is that if we get some good yields, revenues will be okay.”

Producers who feel vulnerable to rapidly increasing interest rates can look at financing options that offer a fixed rate. While fixed rates have already started to move up, Gervais has noticed a “definite trend towards fixed rates.”

“More and more businesses that borrow money are locking in rates for the long term,” he says, a shift that began in the last quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022.

Many observers expect the Bank of Canada will continue raising interest rates past 2% and possibly even flirt with 3%.

“We expect another 50-basis point increase in July and another one in September,” Gervais says. “In the short term, it only affects those who are exposed to variable rates, but long-term, it sends a signal that more are coming, and businesses need to evaluate the exposure they have.”

The Bank of Canada’s next rate announcement is scheduled for July 13.

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