BC Supreme Court approved an order August 26 for the sale of assets held by BC Tree Fruits Co-operative as the packinghouse seeks the monies needed to satisfy its creditors. A sale and investment solicitation process (SISP) initiated while the co-op is protected from the claims of creditors has invited bids for the co-op as …
CROPS
Moderate potato crop expected
Lower Mainland potato crops are expected to come in below average this year thanks to a late spring and an early start to fall. Rod Burr of Burr Farms in Ladner put 200 acres of potatoes in this year, but he’s not expecting the same high yields that were seen last year. “The yield will …
Peach report bullish on future opportunities
KELOWNA – Fred Steele remembers the sound of peach trees cracking in the cold. “They were going off like a rifle shot,” the former BC Fruit Growers Association president recalls. “The temperature had dropped quickly in the fall of 2007 and there was still sap in the trunks that froze and the trees just spilt …
BC Tree gets credit protection
BC Tree Fruits Cooperative has sought protection from creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), with a court-appointed monitor overseeing next steps for the troubled fruit marketer. The application to BC Supreme Court on August 12 came as the co-op struggles with cash flow issues and low estimates from growers of apple deliveries this …
Hothouse growers tap glass ceiling
SURREY – BC greenhouse vegetable growers have begun consultations with members on a new marketing commission for the sector. Currently regulated by the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission, the greenhouse sector has unique needs that BC Greenhouse Growers Association (BCGGA) president Armand Vander Meulen says don’t fit well with potatoes and other storage crops regulated by …
Farming Karma scales up on-farm processing
KELOWNA – The worst cherry crop in the Gill family’s 30 years of farming in the Okanagan hasn’t dampened their drive, with a new 100,000-square-foot processing facility for their Farming Karma line of fruit sodas and other drinks set to open this month. Built in their orchard in Kelowna’s Lower Mission neighbourhood, the facility will …