The removal May 17 of US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum – and this week, retaliatory tariffs of 10% Canada that had imposed on 75 products, including cucumbers and gherkins, prepared meats, maple syrup, yogurt and roasted coffee – may pave the way for ratification of the Canada-US-Mexico trade agreement announced last fall. However, …
NEWS
BC berry growers get a boost
BC berry growers are celebrating the official announcement of renewed funding for breeders seeking to develop new varieties of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. The new funding will support researchers working to improve berry genetics to the tune of $200,000 a year over five years, or $1 million. Administered by the Lower Mainland Horticulture Improvement Association …
Agriculture investment set to surge
Capital spending by BC agribusinesses is set to rise in 2019, according to Statistics Canada. Ottawa expects crop and livestock operations in the province to spend $545.6 million on capital projects this year, up 22% from last year. Preliminary calculations indicate that farmers invested $448.6 million last year. Crop production is the most capital-intensive sector …
Young Agrarians land funding
The recent announcement of $375,000 in new funding to support the land matching program coordinated by Young Agrarians and extend it to central and northern BC was further endorsement of the program, which has been praised in several quarters. Originally launched in Metro Vancouver in 2016, the program now operates province-wide. It has matched 29 …
BC Tree Fruits prepares to relocate
BC Tree Fruits Co-operative found a new executive team, and soon it will have a new home. The co-op announced this week that it expects to close on the purchase of 85 acres in the Ellison area of Kelowna by the end of May. The transaction will occur in tandem with the sale of its …
Abattoir operators await provincial action
Ten years after its creation, the BC Association of Abattoirs is waiting for the province to take action on two reports intended to enhance meat processing capacity in the province. The legislature received a report last fall from the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fish and Food, which was resurrected to examine and make recommendations …