Seven weeks after the province deferred controversial amendments to the Land Act that would have allowed shared decision-making over Crown land, the province has formally recognized the Haida Nation’s jurisdiction over Haida Gwaii. An agreement signed April 14 between the Council of Haida Nation and BC constitutes formal recognition of Aboriginal title by the Crown …
NEWS
AI risk for dairy discussed
BC dairy farmers are being advised to stay alert for highly pathogenic avian influenza, which has infected dairy herds in eight US states. “I don’t want to put too much emphasis on that and alarm anyone without real reasons,” BC Dairy Association chair Casey Pruim told producers attending their spring meeting online on April 12. …
Peace producers break ground
The soil is dry, but Peace producers are optimistic about the season ahead. “We’ve had a very mild winter up here. We hardly had any snow and typically, when we’re this far north, we’ll have a foot and a half of snow in the field at some point and this year we had two to …
Water stewardship metrics questioned
Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Nathan Cullen faced grilling in committee this week as the budget for his ministry’s operations came under scrutiny by MLAs. Independent MLA Adam Walker, who represents Parksville-Qualicum, questioned how the province is measuring the success of its water stewardship initiatives to ensure they are delivering on government’s objectives. “Looking …
BC Tree Fruits sells packinghouse site
A decision not to proceed with a state-of-the-art fruit packing plant in Kelowna left BC Tree Fruits Co-operative with no choice but to sell the property acquired for the purpose, says a respected grower. “After the decision to move to Oliver, the fate of the property was a done deal,” says Amarjit Singh Lalli, a co-op …
Farm input costs ease
Statistics Canada’s index of farm input costs for the final quarter of 2023 show a slight easing in British Columbia, but elevated levels versus two years earlier. Total farm inputs indexed 153.1 at the end of 2023 versus a baseline of 2012 (up 53.1% versus the baseline), down two points from the previous quarter. However, …