The BC Food Hub Network expanded to nine locations over the past week with the announcement of $2.75 million in funding for projects in the Kootenays, Kamloops and Mission. Work to develop a food hub in Creston began in 2013, and the advocacy has finally paid off with a $500,000 grant that will cover food-processing …
NEWS
Governments boost worker supports
Ottawa is developing plans to quarantine incoming seasonal workers at no additional cost to farmers, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced February 12. The new protocols are under development following an announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that international passengers will face tighter entry requirements as of February 22. Travellers landing at one of four …
Blueberry growers dodge US complaint
BC’s several hundred blueberry farmers are relieved and elated after the US International Trade Commission announced that blueberry imports cause no harm to American growers. The commission launched an investigation into global blueberry imports in response to a complaint filed in September by former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer following a report on produce imports jointly authored …
BC residents the least likely to buy local
BC residents consider themselves proud supporters of local agriculture but a new survey for Farm Credit Canada indicates that they’re also the least likely to buy Canadian food whenever possible. Despite significant provincial investment over the past three years in local purchasing programs such as Buy BC and Feed BC, which was recently expanded to …
Well-designed vegetable coolers make for hot sales
MARA – It’s a feat to grow outstanding vegetables, but without proper storage all that goodness can be lost. In 28 years of farming, Hermann Bruns and wife Louise, owners of Mara-based Wild Flight Farm, have learned a thing or two about how to keep produce in the kind of condition that delivers profits to …
Premises ID to be mandatory
All livestock producers will be required to register for Premises ID by next year. Participation is currently voluntary, but BC agriculture minister Lana Popham says industry demand has prompted the government to develop new regulations under the BC Animal Health Act making it mandatory. “BC farmers and ranchers have been clear that a new regulation …