With bud break underway, grape growers are finding that preliminary estimates of severe damage from an extreme cold weather event in late December are accurate. “Preliminary anecdotal reports indicate that our vintage 2023 winter damage modeling of a 50% crop decline is being realized,” a newsletter from industry association Wine Growers BC reported this week. …
CROPS
Replant program revamped
The province announced a new replant program for perennial crops on April 30, ending weeks of speculation regarding the long-awaited initiative. Up to $15 million is being allocated for the new program, to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. It will have three streams, with funding disbursed on a first come, first …
Abbotsford Tulip Festival returns
The first tulip festival in Abbotsford since 2019 promises to be bigger than ever as it kicks off a summer of floral festivities in the Fraser Valley. Spanning 27 acres along Marion Road, Lakeland Flowers will display more than 70 varieties of the spring blossom, including fringe tulips and double tulips, as well as a …
Wine industry faces losses
Winegrowers across the province welcomed bountiful yields of high-quality fruit in 2022, according to Wine Growers BC in its annual vintage report released this week, but the coming season is likely to see yields significantly below normal. An extreme cold weather event on December 21-22 saw temperatures in the province’s major wine-growing regions fall below …
Producers at a loss with elk damages
LADYSMITH – Elk continue to damage farm infrastructure and government compensation is not enough, producers say. They want long-term solutions that balance land and species protection. “The grass that should be starting to grow, getting ready for crops come June, is chewed right down to half an inch on the ground. So, they’ve devoured all …
New rules for pesticide applications
KELOWNA – New regulations under the federal Pest Control Products Act now restrict the practice of tank-mixing to only products that are labelled specifically for mixing. “Under the old regulations, products could be tank-mixed if they were both labelled as registered to be used on a crop and did not specify otherwise,” provincial pesticide specialist …