KAMLOOPS – Ranchers are asking the province to tighten management of elk populations as the ungulates become an increasing nuisance to agriculture. “We believe that elk populations are growing in certain regions,” says Elaine Stovin, assistant general manager with the BC Cattlemen’s Association. Vanderhoof rancher and wildlife biologist Olin Albertson with the Nechako Regional Cattlemen’s …
NEWS
Don’t underestimate scope of farmers institutes
LANGLEY – BC farmers institutes have a direct line to government under the province’s Farmers and Women’s Institute Act, originally enacted in 1938. Knowing what’s in the act is important if today’s institutes want to have a greater impact, says Janet Thony, who addressed the second annual general meeting of the Langley Farmers Institute on …
Strict pandemic plan keeps workers safe
SUMMERLAND – Carcajou Fruit Co. is a 160-acre family business that typically hires 60 domestic workers to pick their cherries over a six-week period each summer. But the COVID-19 pandemic last summer changed the labour game for the family-owned orchard. While the farm was lucky to receive 13 foreign workers through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker …
Growers anxious about labour
While farm workers arriving in BC are exempt from new federal quarantine requirements until March 14, many growers remain concern about their access to labour during the 2021 growing season. A poll of approximately 100 cherry growers who attended the annual general meeting of the BC Cherry Association last week indicated that concern is particularly …
Rural recovery funds agriculture
Grants issued this week from the province’s rural economic recovery program will fund a number of agriculture-related projects. The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development announced $20 million in funding for 38 projects. Of these, four with a value of $1.9 million will support farming and farm-related activities. The smallest …
Food hub network expands
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 …