ABBOTSFORD—BC’s hop industry faces a bright future as the industry consolidates around growers with long-term plans, but plenty of challenges remain. Growers harvested approximately 200,000 pounds last year, a crop that was dried and shipped to brewers across Canada, the US and beyond North America. “We’re getting more interest and we’re also developing a number …
NEWS
FIRB sides with K&M on annualized production
ABBOTSFORD—The BC Farm Industry Review Board has approved K&M Farms’ application to continue its practice of annualizing its production of pasture-reared chicken. Annualized production means that instead of growing an equal amount of chicken each production cycle – five a year for roasters or seven for broilers – a grower’s yearly quota is grown in …
Clifton Ranch aims for better beef, habitat
KEREMEOS—The Clifton family was extremely pleased to receive the 2019 Ranch Sustainability Award from the BC Cattlemen’s Association, but the initiatives designed to improve habitat on the family’s ranch weren’t done for attention. “We didn’t start out to do this with the idea of winning an award,” says Wade Clifton, who undertook the projects with …
International blueberry growers meet in Richmond
Developing new markets and enhancing fruit quality are top of mind for the close to 500 people attending the International Blueberry Organization summit in Richmond this week. Growing demand for blueberries has seen production increase worldwide to more than a billion pounds, according to a state of the industry report presented this week. The top …
Long-term labour demand eases
BC ranks fourth in Canada in terms of farm labour demand, according to a report released this week by the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council. The report indicates that BC’s farm sector will have an annual shortfall of more than 15,000 domestic workers by 2029. However, this is an improvement over 2017, when the shortfall …
TB trace-out completed
Trace-out of animals associated with a herd in BC’s southern interior where bovine tuberculosis was detected last fall have been completed. Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff made the announcement at the end of May. The latest update to the investigation, posted last week, indicates that one herd of 1,500 animals remains under movement controls. That …