A long-awaited raspberry replant program kicked off BC agriculture minister Lana Popham’s second term in cabinet this week. Popham announced $90,000 in funding for the program December 1 as part of a suite if announcements positioned as helping farmers recover from the effects of COVID-19. The program will also see $72,000 contributed by industry for …
CROPS
Passion and schooling pay off for young grower
KRESTOVA – Matthew Carr’s first memory of a job in agriculture is working alongside his grandmother processing poultry on her farm near Krestova, a community of about 200 at the mouth of the Slocan Valley. Carr was about 10. He gave up soccer to pull gizzards for 10 cents apiece. “I now finally figured out …
BC Blueberry council set for elections
The BC Blueberry Council is set to elect six new directors. One will be elected from Region A, which includes Abbotsford, Agassiz and Chilliwack. Two directors will be chosen from each of Region B (Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge) and Region C (Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Langley). The sixth director is at large. Seven candidates are running …
Growers, wineries welcome sustainability launch
KELOWNA – The first wines certified under a new made-in-BC sustainability program could be on shelves as early as next spring. “We are excited to be finally launching our official certification process,” says Katie Pease, program manager for Sustainable Winegrowing BC (SWBC). Originally scheduled to launch this past April, COVID-19 delayed the program’s launch until …
Raspberry growers hold AGM
BC’s Raspberry Industry Development Council members convened online this week for its first annual general meeting in 18 months. The gathering of more than two dozen growers and industry stakeholders was a chance to look back at the past two growing seasons and towards the second half of the current fiscal year, which ends March …
Seed suppliers seeing sustained demand as 2021 orders begin
LANGLEY – Onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw seed orders by home gardeners surge, so much so that some seed companies delayed shipments until orders from commercial growers were filled. Between April 1 to August 31, the BC Eco Seed Co-op saw an 847% increase in sales over the same period in 2019. About 350 …