SURREY – Three days of record-setting temperatures at the end of June made for sweat-soaked chores for many farmers, but cattle and poultry producers also faced the challenge of keeping their animals cool, too. Poultry producers were especially vulnerable, as birds don’t sweat, meaning they can’t cool down. Broiler producers in the Fraser Valley lost …
LIVESTOCK
Livestock producers count losses
Ranchers are on alert as more than 200 active wildfires burn across BC, many sparked following last week’s intense heat. “We are moving into an unprecedented situation with fires. It’s 2017 on steroids in terms of fire activity. It’s so dry out there,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon. Some ranchers have suffered …
Heatwave stresses livestock
BC became the hottest place in Canada ever on Sunday, and again Monday and Tuesday as temperatures in the Fraser Canyon and elsewhere kept breaking records. Lytton soared to an all-time high for Canada of 49.5° Celsius. New records were also set in the eastern Fraser Valley as temperatures hit 42.9° C in Abbotsford on …
New milk board chair
A veteran of the Vancouver business world is the new chair of the BC Milk Marketing Board, succeeding outgoing chair Ben Janzen on July 31. Janice Comeau brings 30 years of experience in finance and strategic advisory roles to the position. She most recently spent three years as chair of the BC Land Titles and …
Pushback on plastics recycling
A provincial consultation on expanded producer responsibility for recycling has found scant support for including non-residential waste, including agricultural plastics, in the province’s recycling regulation. Instead, feedback on an intentions paper published last fall urged the province to leave management of agricultural plastics to Cleanfarms, a manufacturer-led stewardship organization based in Ontario. “Two respondents speaking …
Beef impact bumps up
Western Canada’s beef industry could ride an upward trend over the next decade, according to an economic impact report researchers at the University of Saskatchewan prepared for Canfax Research Services and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association this spring. The cattle sector currently has a net economic impact of $51.6 billion nationally, of which $38.8 billion occurs …