This week marks the deadline for the four finalists in this year’s dairy New Entrant Program to confirm acceptance of the opportunity to begin production in 2025. The four finalists, all from the Lower Mainland, include Lindsey Dirks, Clinton and Dionne Quesnel, Jared Romeyn, and Jonathan Wouda. The four were selected following interviews the BC …
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Feed available but stocks low
The outlook for feed is good this season, a year after the BC Cattlemen’s Association launched its Access to Feed program with provincial support. BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon says BC is close to an average hay crop this year. “We are seeing [more] consistent crops throughout the province,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association …
Dairy demand prompts quota increase
ABBOTSFORD – Dairy processing capacity is on the rise in Western Canada, and BC dairy producers have received an extra 3% quota to keep pace with demand. The increase approved February 1 has leveled out quota issuance to each of the four provinces in the Western Milk Pool at approximately 101%. “In previous years, we …
Mink appeals dismissed
A challenge of the province’s shutdown of the BC mink sector has failed. A decision dated May 7 in BC Supreme Court dismissed challenges five of the province’s mink farms filed in 2022 to the province’s decision in November 2021 to shut down their sector. The province, former agriculture minister Lana Popham, provincial health officer …
BC FIRB challenges WMP plans
BC FIRB is challenging BC’s path forward with the Western Milk Pool. Of primary concern is a plan for the BC Milk Marketing Board and the BC Dairy Association to share resources pursuant to memoranda of understanding submitted to BC FIRB last fall. “We have concluded that the proposed MOU between the BCDA and the …
Livestock oversight to change
VICTORIA – The province is poised to take over responsibility for farmed animal welfare in BC, following a report that recommends restricting the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to companion animals. Policing of animal welfare, including that of farmed animals, has been the statutory responsibility of the BC SPCA since its …