VANCOUVER – The Western Milk Pool (WMP) has taken the first step in decreasing the cost of moving milk around the four western provinces and potentially increasing processing capacity in the West. “We have been working on strategies (to reduce freight costs and increase processing capacity) for the past three years,” BC Milk Marketing Board …
NEWS
Pacific Ag Show keeps up with changing times
Sixty-two years ago, Fraser Valley raspberry and strawberry growers decided to host a day of technical seminars to help them address production issues. The sessions were held in the late winter while growers were not yet busy in their fields and in plenty of time for them to apply the knowledge they had gained to …
BC vets speak out for education
BC veterinarians are calling on advanced education, skills and training minister Melanie Mark to step up and fund 20 seats at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon to address the province’s shortage of vets. The additional seats would give BC a total of 40 places at the college, which has a mandate to …
BC agrifood exports rise
BC’s agrifood sector rung up revenues of nearly $15 billion in 2018, the province reported on December 13, a 5.2% increase from a year earlier. “It was an excellent year for agriculture in British Columbia. The hard work of many has led to record results,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said in a press release formally …
Agriculture ministers discuss concerns
A meeting of federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers in Ottawa this week addressed several issues of concern to BC producers. BC agriculture minister Lana Popham told Country Life in BC before she left that she would be discussing assistance for farmers in the Peace hit hard by adverse conditions this fall. The assistance would …
Overwhelming support for piece rates
A study of BC piece rates the BC Ministry of Labour commissioned in September 2018 has shown broad support for the existing system. Published this week, the study found 90% of growers support the existing system whereby government sets rates for workers who pick fruit and vegetables. Workers in the Thompson-Okanagan region expressed 94% satisfaction …