Michelle Cook has been appointed general manager of the Okanagan-Kootenay Sterile Insect Release Program (SIR) following a February 9 meeting of SIR’s board. She will officially take the helm of the organization when current GM Melissa Tesche formally succeeds Glen Lucas as general manager of the BC Fruit Growers Association in early March. Cook joined …
CROPS
Provincial nursery specialist appointed
It’s been four years since the retirement of the province’s long-time greenhouse and nursery specialist Dave Woodske. Woodske retired in early 2020, just as COVID was about to shut down life as we knew it. Now, with a new normal in place, Karina Sakalauskas has been appointed as provincial ornamental greenhouse and nursery specialist. Woodske’s …
CanadaGAP participation drops
CanadaGAP is a linchpin of foodsafety for many horticulture operations across Canada, and BC’s flourishing fruit and vegetable farms make it one of the best-represented jurisdictions in the program. But last year also saw it log one of the steepest declines of any province in the country. CanadaGAP’s annual report for the year ended August …
Cariboo potato a case study in local resilience
100 MILE HOUSE – A co-op farmer near 100 Mile House is seeing renewed interest in the Cariboo potato nearly 50 years after it was outlawed as a commercial seed spud. Rob Diether, a member of the Community Enhancement and Economic Development Society (CEEDS), has been growing the hardy yellow potato with pink eyes at …
BC Tree Fruits board remains intact
A fresh challenge to the BC Tree Fruits Co-operative board has been voted down. A special general meeting in Penticton on February 5 saw 70% of the co-op’s voting members reject motions that aimed to unseat four of the co-op board’s 10 members and change the decision-making process regarding property sales. The motions did not …
BC Veg expands mandate
The mandate of the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission now covers the entire province, making it a truly provincial body regulating the marketing of vegetables from Atlin to Yahk. The change took effect January 1, and was highlighted in a bulletin released February 2. Prior to this year, the commission’s general orders limited its mandate to …