• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Originally published:

SEPTEMBER 2020
Vol. 106 Issue 9

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Stories In This Edition

Under one roof

Creating community in abundance

Farms to retain tax status

Armyworm keeps its distance this summer

Smile with your eyes

Fall back

Back 40: Finding what we need in a COVID-19 world

Viewpoint: Exports play a vital role in BC’s farm economy

Field days feeling the pinch of social distancing rules

Sidebar: Pacific Agriculture Show goes virtual

AgSafe makes changes to board structure

Makin’ hay

Metro Vancouver targets carbon-neutral future

Changes to land commission kick in this fall

Creston initiative keeps workers, town safe

Ag Briefs: Dairy industry selects new entrants

Ag Briefs: Top vet appointed

Ag Briefs: BC youth offer perspectives

Sheep producers told to bear with wildlife

Disease has sheep producers on defensive

Pandemic creates virtual season for 4-H clubs

Delta development puts agrihoods to the test

Three-tier system being floated for livestock watering

Short-term roller coaster for beef market

Beef prices up

Global outlook is bright for beef producers

Council supports efforts to improve water quality

New orchardist takes on key ministry role

Unprecedented rise in machine harvesting

Soft landings mean better blueberries

Province readers sprayer program for delivery

Wheat growers tap into heirloom grains

High-flying pans grounded by pandemic protocols

Farm Story: The right machine makes harvesting potatoes a breeze

Organic soil requirements need science, guesswork

Relay cropping checks all the boxes

Flower growers ponder COVID-19 impacts

Best practices must guide COVID-19 hiring

Woodshed: No place like home for Deborah and the dogs

Former caregiver brings donkey therapy to Island

No one leaves Abundance without a zucchini

Building community, building a future

Jude’s Kitchen: Harvest colours

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

1 day ago

Fecal coliform levels in the streams and watercourses that flow through Langley has been an issue for decades. The Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) has received $97,000 from the federal government to work with property owners to help them reduce their impact on water quality and the environment, and ensure their properties are in compliance with the Agriculture Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEMCoP). The story is in the February edition of Country Life in BC. Subscribe today bit.ly/3RIKms9/.

#BCAg #aemcop
... See MoreSee Less

Fecal coliform levels in the streams and watercourses that flow through Langley has been an issue for decades. The Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) has received $97,000 from the federal government to work with property owners to help them reduce their impact on water quality and the environment, and ensure their properties are in compliance with the Agriculture Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEMCoP). The story is in the February edition of Country Life in BC. Subscribe today https://bit.ly/3RIKms9/.

#BCAg #AEMCoP
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 days ago

BC dairy farmers are feeling the pinch and some in the Fraser Valley are considering selling as narrow margins get tighter and high financing costs complicate succession plans. It's our cover story in the February edition of Country Life in BC.

bit.ly/3JGgk6B

#bcagriculture #bcdairy
... See MoreSee Less

BC dairy farmers are feeling the pinch and some in the Fraser Valley are considering selling as narrow margins get tighter and high financing costs complicate succession plans. Its our cover story in the February edition of Country Life in BC.

https://bit.ly/3JGgk6B

#bcagriculture #bcdairy
View Comments
  • Likes: 16
  • Shares: 16
  • Comments: 8

Comment on Facebook

So much pressure being put on the dairy industry from the US. It’s hard to keep the lobbying at bay. Canadian dairy should supply Canadian tables and the farmers who provide it should be paid what they are worth. There is no such thing as cheap food

Farm Management is key. It can't all be blamed on the government.

Just been watching NZ TV news and the price of food. Most complaining about the price of dairy products due to the fact that domestic prices are high with most production being exported. No supply management.

I really don't understand the concern here. The article literally says 30-40 of 600 BC dairy farms (that's less than 1%) are experiencing financial pressure, likely due to being somewhat overleveraged. Sounds like just some mismanagement rather than a broad policy failure is the cause here.

Whole Food Plant Based eating ...oat milk coconut milk Almond milk soy milk etc

Noooooooo. That’s exactly what this LIB/NDP party wants. They want everyone to cave in to their knees. Don’t do it. It’ll be the end.

A lot of this is government squeeze. Be hungry and compliant!

The government is the eternal enemy of humanity.

View more comments

1 week ago

Farmland Advantage is receiving a $445,000 grant from the federal government. The program, the “brainchild” of Invermere cattle rancher Dave Zehnder, provides compensation to farmers for their conservation efforts to protect BC’s grasslands, riparian areas and wildlife habitat. The funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and Priority Places programs, will be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas appeared in our March 2022 edition and you can view it at ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Rewarding farmers for enhancing riparian areas

buff.ly

INVERMERE – Farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Valley will continue to see rewards for taking action to conserve and enhance important riparian areas on their farms. The Windermere District Farmer...
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 weeks ago

A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural Land Commission hosted in Langley Monday night regarding a proposal to include 305 acres controlled by the federal government in the Agricultural Land Reserve. More than 76,000 people have signed an online petition asking municipal and provincial governments to protect the land from development, and for the federal government to grant a long-term lease to the Heppells. Read more in this morning's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. conta.cc/3XYXw6k ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Your weekly farm news update

web-extract.constantcontact.com

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915 January 25 2023 Surrey ALR inclusion cheered A standing-room only crowd of more than 250 people attended a public hearing the Agricultural L
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Mike Manion Pitt Meadows City Councillor

2 months ago

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand this season and prices remain comparable to last year. But the number of tree farms has decreased dramatically over the past five years and the province will increasingly need to look elsewhere if it wants to meet local demand. More in this week's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC. ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Christmas trees in demand

buff.ly

Christmas tree growers in BC are seeing strong demand, with high quality trees making it to market. “The market is good. We’ll probably outdo last year and last year was one of our best years…
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

Changes to land commission kick in this fall

Regional panels will be disbanded

September 1, 2020 byPeter Mitham

BURNABY – Changes to how the Agricultural Land Commission does business at the end of this month are raising questions about what the future holds.

This summer has seen at least two municipalities move forward with exclusion applications in advance of new rules that take effect September 30. In the six weeks ended August 19, the ALC received four exclusion applications versus three in the same period a year earlier. These included bids by Kelowna to exclude 40 acres for a transit centre and the District of Kent’s request for 43 acres designated for residential development.

The increase in applications may not be dramatic, but both come ahead of changes that make local and First Nation governments the sole entities able to seek exclusions from the ALR.

The rules also require municipalities to hold public hearings prior to seeking exclusions, something not currently required.

This concerns Jim Grieshaber-Otto of Cedar Isle Farm in Agassiz, who feels the District of Kent’s public engagement process was not in the spirit of the new regulation. Public feedback was being sought when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Approximately 55% of district residents opposed the district’s plans but it voted in July to pursue the block exclusion without a public hearing after the initial information session.

“The district seems to have rushed to submit its application before the new, more restrictive rules apply,” Grieshaber-Otto contends in a submission to the ALC.

ALC CEO Kim Grout says there has been no rush to file applications in advance of the rules changing, either from municipalities or from individual landowners.

While the exclusion applications filed this summer make up 10% of the 38 applications the ALC received in the period, total applications in the period were down from 59 a year ago.

“It is possible we will see an upswing in applications but it is not showing yet in the data,” Grout says.

Centralized

Bill 15 also did away with the system of regional panels, centralizing decision-making. While regional representation is being maintained, new regulations aim to make decision-making faster and more efficient. All existing commissioners remained in place under the new structure, announced March 12. However, the chair of the ALC will now have greater input on government’s appointment of new commissioners. This has many observers anxiously watching what happens when the terms of 11 land commissioners expire in October.

There are 15 land commissioners besides the chair, meaning the next round of appointments will define the character of the commission as it adjusts to governance changes made under Bill 15.

District A Farmers Institute questions whether the new process is sufficiently free of political interference, however. It notes that the province’s agriculture minister has the final say over appointments, even though the ALC operates independently of government.

While the lieutenant governor in council must appoint the chair, the Agricultural Land Commission Act specifies that “the minister must appoint the other members after consulting with the chair.”

“[How] does not increase, rather than decrease, political interference (an issue the minister has stated she is concerned about)?” asks Janet Thony, president of District A Farmers Institute.

According to the ALC, all candidates for appointment to the commission must present themselves through the Crown Agency and Board Resourcing Office.

“The way things have been working since the legislation changed is CABRO sends the ALC any resumes/CVs they receive that appear to fit with the knowledge requirements in the legislation, and the chair of the ALC (and/or commissioners the chair appoints) interviews candidates and based on those interviews makes recommendations back to CABRO,” explains Grout, noting that CABRO then liaises with the province’s agriculture minister, who makes the final decision.

 

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Surrey ALR inclusion cheered

ALC rejects Teacup appeal

Good land at risk

Whistleblowers at FIRB, ALC protected

There is a future for BC’s apple industry

Province opens ALR to agritech development

ALR opened for agritech

Abbotsford updates farmland policies

Province allows secondary homes

Farmers say new policy statement devalues ag

Agassiz land exclusion refused

Province to lift restrictions on second homes

Previous Post: « Sheep producers told to bear with wildlife
Next Post: Field days feeling the pinch of social distancing rules »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved