A member of 4-H BC took top spot at the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture competition during the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto on November 4. Janel van Dongen of Nanoose Bay was one of 12 speakers from across Canada and Scotland who shared their thoughts and perspectives on the Canadian agriculture industry. Van Dongen, …
NEWS
Okanagan egg producers eye expansion
ARMSTRONG – Residents of BC’s Okanagan Valley will soon have two new commercial egg producers shipping to grocers, with the BC Egg Marketing Board’s recent selection of Chris Grohmueller of Armstrong and Sajid Hameed of Salmon Arm as new entrants. “Both Sajid and Chris are already well known in their communities for the quality of …
Farmers institutes to meet
The first gathering of farmers institutes in four years is set to take place November 30. The online gathering has been organized in response to requests at a workshop the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District systems change project hosted in Abbotsford in January. Reinvigorating the province’s network of farmers institutes was one of the ways the project …
Underused housing tax extension
Confusion is frustrating the federal government’s attempts to implement its underused housing tax. The proposed tax was the subject of bulletins and workshops earlier this year, when property owners faced a May 1 deadline for filing a nine-page declaration regarding their properties’ use. But citing ignorance of the tax, the government gave a second extension …
Farm accelerator program renewed
The province is relaunching a farm support program piloted two years ago, rebranding it with the assistance of federal funding. The New Entrant Farm Business Accelerator Program is receiving $600,000 under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to support business planning and equipment purchases for farms that have not reported income in the past five years. …
Water licence fight highlights need for change
DUNCAN – A well-loved farmstand and restaurant on Vancouver Island hopes a change in oversight of groundwater management will lead to a more collaborative approach to resolving licensing issues. Katy and John Ehrlich of Alderlea Farm on Vancouver Island have run their award-winning farm for more than 20 years, growing a variety of vegetables and …