LANGLEY – Pruning blueberry plants is all about balance. In young plants, that means balancing vegetative growth with root growth. In fruiting bushes, it’s about balancing vegetative growth with yield and berry quality. “You want to try to maximize your canopy growth,” says Lisa Wasko DeVetter, who leads the state-wide small fruit horticulture program at …
NEWS
Reports back significant hazelnut potential
CHILLIWACK – Growing local and global demand is fuelling a renewed focus on BC hazelnuts and their potential. Past replant programs failed to achieve full uptake from hazelnut growers, but a new report from Chris Bodnar, assistant professor of agriculture at the University of the Fraser Valley, may drive more interest from government, investors and …
Sheep commission considered
Sheep growers are the latest producer group to pitch the idea of a commission under the oversight of the BC Farm Industry Review Board. During the BC Sheep Federation’s annual conference in Vernon on October 4-5, members discussed the idea of establishing a commission as one of several options to encourage a viable future for …
Cherry bonanza no jubilee
This should have been the year BC cherry growers were waiting for, following freeze events that wiped out last year’s crop and the lingering impact of the heat dome of 2021. “We had great growing conditions this summer,” says BC Fruit Growers Association executive director Adrian Arts. Trees that produced no crop last year rebounded …
BC farmland values flat
BC farmland values were flat in the first half of this year as economic uncertainties stalled deal-making in the province’s most expensive regions. A mid-year review of farmland value trends by Farm Credit Canada (FCC) indicated zero growth in values in BC, versus a 6% rise nationally. Ontario, another province also afflicted by a general …
Islands Trust sidelines ag in policy statement
PENDER ISLAND – A new draft Islands Trust policy statement that removes a key Agricultural Land Reserve provision and no longer recognizes agriculture as a “traditional and valuable activity” is sparking concern among some in the Gulf Islands farming community. The effort to update the current policy statement – which has been largely unchanged since …