The province has missed a deadline to fund the BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Program, an initiative of the BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation. AITC had asked the province for a response by May 10 so it could make arrangements with farmers and prepare to roll out the program when a new school …
NEWS
Cherry virus survey proposed
A new industry-led task force hopes to survey cherry growers this summer to ensure a disease that devastated BC’s cherry industry decades ago doesn’t return. Kootenay growers first reported little cherry disease in 1933. By 1946, almost every tree in the region was infected by the virus that causes the disease, which results in under-sized …
Grape pomace upcycled
Penticton-based Winecrush Technology Inc. is preparing to patent a new process for transforming grape pomace and wine lees into what it describes as “a high-performance flavour enhancement ingredient.” Pomace typically represents about 30% of the grapes crushed for wine. It is often composted or sent to landfills, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. A ton of …
Census of Agriculture launches
Census forms have been landing in mailboxes across the country this week, and for farmers, that means the Census of Agriculture. The census provides valuable data to all levels of government for tracking the growth and development of the farm sector across the country. Following consultations with industry in 2017, several questions were developed and …
Water licence angst
DUNCAN – It’s been more than three years since Ken Ellison applied for licences to draw water from the three wells on his farm in the Cowichan Valley as part of a new groundwater management regime introduced under the Water Sustainability Act in 2016. With water restrictions in his area becoming more common, the idea …
Province to lift restrictions on second homes
VICTORIA – The province is preparing a new regulation to allow property owners in the Agricultural Land Reserve to have a secondary dwelling without Agricultural Land Commission approval. “For almost 50 years, BC’s agricultural land reserve (ALR) has existed to encourage farming and protect farmland,” said BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in Facebook post …