A new year brings new rates for produce pickers in B.C. While most workers who harvest crops by hand receive more than the minimum wage, the annual adjustment to rates establishes a baseline for workers and indicates the rate of upward pressure employers face when it comes to wages. On December 31, the province mandated …
NEWS
BC Fruit Growers list test orchard
The historic test orchard launched by the BC Fruit Growers Association in 1981 has hit the market. The 87-acre property, listed with Marnie Perrier of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, includes 20 acres of orchard, 18 acres of fallow land planted to rye and seven acres of flat land suitable for development with a “world class …
BC potato crop down
BC’s potato crop lagged its five-year average in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, weighing in at 1,878,000 hundredweight (cwt). Yields were largely consistent with past years at 329.5 cwt per acre but lower acreage compared to historical levels contributed to a smaller harvest. BC growers seeded 5,900 acres this past spring, down from 6,500 in …
BC producer groups give back
‘Tis the season of giving, and BC producer groups are doing their part. During its annual conference at the end of November, the BC Dairy Association announced the contribution of $180,000 in matching funds to the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation for transformative equipment and programs. The funding is part of $640,000 contributed over the past …
Shuswap watershed grants once again open
Water for agriculture is among the top priorities for the new provincial government, and the ripple effects of on-farm practices are in the spotlight as the Shuswap Watershed Council (SWC) invites another round of applications for its four-year old Water Quality Grant Program. “One of our objectives as a watershed council is to protect and …
Pilot addresses gap in distribution infrastructure
NELSON – A pilot project to transform food distribution in the Kootenays is underway through the Central Kootenay Food Policy Council (CKFPC) with the goal of building a more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable food distribution system across the region. “The Kootenays is a large geographic area and home to a broad network of interconnected people …