VANDERHOOF – A wet fall and a lack of snow cover has resulted in winterkill of more than 20,000 acres of alfalfa in the Nechako Valley. The issue became apparent to forage growers this spring when the alfalfa simply failed to appear. Acreage that the year prior had produced three to four tonnes per acre …
NEWS
Island farmers grapple with armyworm infestation
PORT ALBERNI – A voracious new pest is marching its way through Vancouver Island forage crops. “I first saw them in early June when a neighbour came by with a jar full of them and said they wrecked his second cut,” says Bob Collins, a Port Alberni beef farmer and well-known contributor to Country Life …
Ranchers first line of defense against wildfires
WILLIAMS LAKE – On July 6, Cheryl Monical and her husband Ed noticed smoke over the hill while moving cattle at their ranch near 105 Mile House. Twenty-four hours later, they were fighting a wildfire 200 feet from their doorstep. “At the time the fire was coming at us, the police showed up and told …
Wildfires put hundreds of ranchers at risk
WILLIAMS LAKE – An unprecedented spate of wildfires that erupted across the central Interior in early July has put ranchers throughout BC on tenterhooks, wondering what the remainder of the summer will bring. Dry lightning west of Williams Lake sparked more than 140 wildfires on July 7 alone, faster than the BC Wildfire Service could …
Poultry abuse underscores need to measure up
CHILLIWACK – Another horrific case of livestock abuse uncovered by the activist group Mercy for Animals highlights gaps in the farm sector’s animal protection protocols. A video delivered to the BC SPCA on June 9 and released to media June 12 shows chicken catchers from Elite Farm Services Ltd. abusing poultry at various farms in …
Abbotsford seeks exclusion to boost industrial land
ABBOTSFORD – Abbotsford has taken a proposal to exclude a total of 696 acres from the Agricultural Land Reserve to the public. The land is meant to recharge an industrial land base of 2,069 acres that is nearly exhausted, thanks to an outflow of industrial users from Metro Vancouver – many of which are now …