PENTICTON – The Wyse family of Oliver’s Burrowing Owl Estate Winery took home the Canadian Wine Industry Award of Distinction during the 2024 Wine Industry Awards ceremony on March 12 in Penticton. A long-term commitment to producing high-quality wine while honouring and protecting the local environment have been defining practices at Burrowing Owl, founded in …
CROPS
Peace producers break ground
The soil is dry, but Peace producers are optimistic about the season ahead. “We’ve had a very mild winter up here. We hardly had any snow and typically, when we’re this far north, we’ll have a foot and a half of snow in the field at some point and this year we had two to …
BC Tree Fruits sells packinghouse site
A decision not to proceed with a state-of-the-art fruit packing plant in Kelowna left BC Tree Fruits Co-operative with no choice but to sell the property acquired for the purpose, says a respected grower. “After the decision to move to Oliver, the fate of the property was a done deal,” says Amarjit Singh Lalli, a co-op …
Haskaps hold potential for northern growers
VERNON – With limited provincial resources, haskap berry producers must forge their own paths toward business viability and success through value-added products and direct-to-consumer marketing. “I didn’t want to make a mistake and pick something that’s really hard, which is kind of ironic because I ended up with something really hard,” says Indigo Valley Farm …
Veles continues with BC Veg
Natalie Veles has been reappointed as an independent commissioner with the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission. Veles was one of two independent commissioners appointed in early 2022 following a governance review that aimed for a more accountable and diverse board at the commission. Veles was selected alongside Craig Evans to serve following a competitive application process. …
New replant funding announced
A new $70.5 million replant program was announced March 13 at the BC Wine Insight conference in Penticton by Premier David Eby and BC Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis. The program will see about $65 million disbursed to farmers net of IAF administrative expenses, with $18 million for berries, $23 million for grapes and …