KAMLOOPS – With a shocking lack of licences issued five years into BC’s groundwater licensing regime, the BC Cattlemen’s Association has sent the province a six-point action plan to forestall disaster next year. The province says it’s not going to be giving non-domestic groundwater users any more time to apply for a groundwater licence and …
NEWS
Farmers struggle to get insurance coverage Insurance
SALMON ARM – A hard market cycle for the insurance industry is making it harder for some farmers to get insurance coverage. It took four months for Mara dairy farmers Quentin and Daniela Bruns to secure insurance for their 180-acre certified organic operation with about 65 cows. Their struggle to find an insurance company willing …
BCAC shifts to advocacy
ABBOTSFORD – One of the biggest organizational shifts in BC agriculture since the 1990s will see the BC Agriculture Council focus on being an advocate for industry and exit the business of program delivery. “BCAC’s core role is that of an advocacy organization,” says Reg Ens, who will be stepping down as executive director of …
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 …
“Significant losses” to fruit
BC fruit growers stand to be hit the hardest by the current heat wave, with dozens filing notices of claim regarding crop losses. “BC berry growers and tree fruit growers are experiencing significant losses as a result of the June heat wave,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. …
Xaxli’p target food security
Xaxli’p First Nation is looking to agriculture to increase local food security, create jobs and drive economic development with the help of federal funding. Formerly known as the Fountain Band, Xaxli’p is an Indigenous government of about 250 members located about 15 kilometres from the village of Lillooet. “Being semi-remote and having a large number …