A young champion for more meat processing capacity in the Southern Interior has died. Chad Maarhuis of Magnum Meats in Rock Creek collapsed May 10 following a business trip to Calgary. He was 37. A graduate of the meat-cutting course at Thompson Rivers University, Maarhuis purchased Magnum Meats with his wife Erika in 2008. It …
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Province boosts online funding
The province has announced an additional $300,000 through the Buy BC program to help producers take sales online. The new funding, administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC, will “support industry-led Buy BC e-commerce activities” by providing up to $5,000 to successful applicants. The intake period will be just two weeks, from May 15 …
Cattle industry seeks cash
There was some hope for the BC cattle industry in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on May 5 of $252 million to support agriculture and food processing. Almost half the funds, $125 million, are earmarked for AgriRecovery initiatives to support producers facing additional costs as a result of COVID-19. The funds include $50 million for …
Federal assistance falls short
Business continuity was a high priority for farm leaders when COVID-19 first disrupted access to markets and labour. Working capital, tax deferral programs and reductions in red tape were among the options that Reg Ens, executive director of the BC Agriculture Council, put forward. “Those are the kinds of things we’re thinking of right now …
Beefsteak tomatoes get smoked
Projections from the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission indicate declining greenhouse vegetable acreage this year as the area devoted to beefsteak tomatoes falls. Production is set to drop to less than 3 million square metres as 126,358 square metres comes out of production, the commission’s annual general meeting heard last week. Beefsteak tomatoes will lose 99,862 …
Worker health in focus
OLIVER – With foreign and domestic workers starting to arrive in the Okanagan for another season, growers are grappling with provincial health guidelines designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. “It’s going to start the first week of May for grapes, doing some shoot-thinning in vineyards,” says Ron Forrest, the BC Fruit Growers Association liaison …