Jen Gamble is leaving her role as executive director of the Certified Organic Associations of BC at the end of February after nine years in the role. “Under her leadership we have become more professional in how we grow, how we certify, how we accredit, and how we trade our organic commodities,” says COABC co-chair …
NEWS
Kelowna water rates proposed
The new year will see more than 500 agriculture utility customers in the South East Kelowna Irrigation District incorporated within Kelowna’s domestic water system. The shift will change how growers pay for irrigation water. “The agriculture water rate structure being proposed is a blend of a fixed-fee and escalating tiers that would be predictable and …
Farmers partner with chefs
Registrations topped 430 for the second edition of the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s networking and marketing event, “Every Chef Needs a Farmer, Every Farmer Needs a Chef.” Attendance was up by half from last year, necessitating a move to the PNE Forum where more than 55 exhibitors from major commodity groups including the BC Dairy …
Okanagan land-matches top 12
A half-day land-matching workshop in Kelowna on November 2 attracted nearly 40 people. The event was organized by Young Agrarians as part of a provincially funded program to match landowners with land-seekers. The crowd included young people looking for land to start farming, a young couple looking to transition out of their start-up farm, and …
Waste management webinar
The BC Cattlemen’s Association has followed up its six-part “Coffee Shop Talks” webinar series with a fall webinar on the new Agricultural Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEM Code). The webinar gives ranchers an opportunity to get up to speed on their responsibilities under the new code, which took effect February 28. “We had a …
Housing tops concerns in Cranbrook
The province’s consultation on supporting farming in the Agricultural Land Reserve continued in Cranbrook on November 5, where 62 residents turned out to say the current system isn’t working for them. “It’s important that you start listening,” said Randy Reay, a rancher from Jaffray and land use chair with the Kootenay Livestock Association. The province …