MERRITT – Small-scale meat producers across BC are banding together to form a new association representing farmers and ranchers who raise meat outside of the conventional system. The Small-Scale Meat Producers Association was founded by primary producers and their supporters following several months of online Facebook discussions that garnered the interest of about 75 ranchers …
NEWS
Salal berries have market potential
Sometimes, some of the best health foods are right in front of you – or perhaps swirling in a glass-filled gift from a buddie. “A friend gave me a bottle of dessert wine that included some salal juice as a present,” says professor Peter Constabel, director of the Centre for Forest Biology, University of Victoria. …
Labour trouble
LANGLEY – A packed house gathered for the spring meeting of the BC Landscape and Nursery Association at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley on March 12, keen to get answers to questions about the state of the labour force. The association is engaged in an extensive study of labour requirements for the sector, but the …
Research is a focus of BC’s grape and wine sector
The British Columbia grape and wine industry began investing in research around 15 years ago, first with levies collected under the research and development committee of the BC Wine Institute and, since 2006, through the British Columbia Wine Grape Council (BCWGC), established under the BC Farming and Fishing Industries Development Act. The grower and winery …
Optimistic outlook for beef sector
VERNON – Kee Jim is bullish on beef. “I feel very strongly that the participants that are in the industry today are in for a pretty good deal going forward,” Jim told North Okanagan Livestock Association members at their education day in Vernon in late February. “I think calf prices are going to continue to …
Chicken growers demand pricing parity
VANCOUVER – The new chicken pricing formula, which took effect last June, is an improvement over the previous formula but still does not put farmers in the black, says BC Chicken Growers Association president Dale Krahn. “Growers are still farming their depreciation,” he told producers at the well-attended BC Chicken Growers Association annual meeting held …