ABBOTSFORD – The final results of a cost of production survey BC’s dairy sector undertook last year has confirmed the sector’s dire straits. Producers in BC are losing an average of 48 cents per kilogram of butterfat, a loss that rose to $4.19 per kg when off-farm revenue, cattle sales and other income is factored …
NEWS
Kelowna fallow farmland returns
The City of Kelowna’s efforts to preserve farmland are paying off but fewer people are working the land. An agriculture plan progress report presented to Kelowna council November 6 shows a drop in the number of active farm operations in the Central Okanagan region since 2017. Six years ago, there were 1,034 actively farmed parcels; …
Avian influenza grows
The number of BC farms testing positive for highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza surged over the past week, with the Canada Food Inspection Agency confirming six farms on November 7. The cases, which affected all commercial feather groups, including ducks, follow two positive results announced November 4 as well as a case on November 2. …
BC young leader honoured
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, …
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 …