Dr. Theresa Burns outlined three main diseases that impact or could cause issues in BC’s livestock and poultry sectors at a Centre for Organizational Governance in Agriculture webinar this week. For the poultry sector, it’s no surprise that avian influenza is an ongoing concern. Over the last year, the province has recorded 130 detections of …
NEWS
Snowpack sends mixed signals
The latest data from the BC River Forecast Centre is a mixed blessing for growers concerned about a dry start to the season. The province’s April 1 snow and water supply bulletin indicates that the provincial snow pack decreased to slightly below normal for April 1 to 88% versus 94% a month earlier. The snow …
New rules for pesticide applications
KELOWNA – New regulations under the federal Pest Control Products Act now restrict the practice of tank-mixing to only products that are labelled specifically for mixing. “Under the old regulations, products could be tank-mixed if they were both labelled as registered to be used on a crop and did not specify otherwise,” provincial pesticide specialist …
Industry looks to move needle on labour shortage
Two new initiatives are digging into solutions to the perennial labour shortage facing BC producers. A report released by the BC Fruit Growers Association on March 31 analyzes temporary foreign worker programs in the US and Canada with a view to helping smaller operations access labour. The report proposes a pilot project that could reduce …
Carbon tax relief begins
Details of the new point-of-sale carbon tax rebate for greenhouse growers were announced this week as the new scheme took effect. Originally announced in the February 28 provincial budget, the point-of-sale rebate means eligible greenhouse growers will pay just 20% of the carbon tax levied on natural gas and propane purchased to heat their greenhouses …
New business registry planned
The province will develop a new registry designed to deepen its tracking of business ownership and corporate investment. On March 29, the BC Ministry of Finance announced that it would “end hidden ownership” in private businesses through the creation of a public registry of beneficial owners. The move parallels a federal bid to create a …