• 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

Current Issue:

MARCH 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 3

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

Follow us on Facebook

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

1 week ago

The province remained short on details Thursday as it repeated an announcement it plans to invest $5 million in a new animal disease preparedness and response program. “This investment will provide BC farmers and ranchers with the support to plan and respond quicker and better to disease outbreaks,” said BC agriculture minister Pam Alexis, who was joined by MLAs from Langley East, Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Kent at Canadian Organic Feeds in Chilliwack.

#BCAg #countrylifeinbc #BCpoultry
... See MoreSee Less

The province remained short on details Thursday as it repeated an announcement it plans to invest $5 million in a new animal disease preparedness and response program. “This investment will provide BC farmers and ranchers with the support to plan and respond quicker and better to disease outbreaks,” said BC agriculture minister Pam Alexis, who was joined by MLAs from Langley East, Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Kent at Canadian Organic Feeds in Chilliwack.

#BCAg #countrylifeinbc #BCpoultry
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 2

Comment on Facebook

Stay away from government programs

It's a killing program ..

1 week ago

With the stroke of a pen, BC has officially entered into a new agreement with the federal government that will see more than $140 million invested over the next five years in “strategic” agricultural initiatives. The money represents a 25% increase of about $29 million over the previous funding agreement, which ends on March 31. “This partnership will support our government’s focus on food security for all British Columbians while investing significantly in BC farmers, producers and processors,” says BC agriculture minister Pam Alexis. The agreement was signed earlier today, during federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s visit to the province. ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Bilateral agreement signed

www.countrylifeinbc.com

BC will see an additional $29 million over five years from the federal government when the new agricultural policy framework debuts April 1. A new bilateral agreement between the provincial and…
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

1 week ago

BC farmers and producers have until June 30 to register for AgriStability, pay their fees and secure coverage under the program. AgriStability provides support to growers with large financial declines caused by production losses as a result of extreme weather, disease outbreak (such as avian influenza) and increased costs or declining market conditions. About 2,100 BC farmers enroll in the program annually. For more information or to enrol, visit www.gov.bc.ca/AgriStability

#BCAg #countrylifeinbc #AgriStability
... See MoreSee Less

BC farmers and producers have until June 30 to register for AgriStability, pay their fees and secure coverage under the program. AgriStability provides support to growers with large financial declines caused by production losses as a result of extreme weather, disease outbreak (such as avian influenza) and increased costs or declining market conditions. About 2,100 BC farmers enroll in the program annually. For more information or to enrol, visit www.gov.bc.ca/AgriStability

#BCAg #countrylifeinbc #AgriStability
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 weeks ago

A new provincial agricultural extension program is in the works, and hopes are high it heralds a fresh start for regional agricultural support in BC. Set to launch this spring, the program intends to increase engagement with producers, with a focus on climate mitigation, adaption and overall sustainability.

#BCAg #countrylifeinbc
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Provincial extension service coming

www.countrylifeinbc.com

A new provincial extension service is in the works, an initiative applauded at an Agri-Extension and Research event organized by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District and held at the BC Ministry of...
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 weeks ago

A planned food hub in the Kootenay Boundary region could be a reality this fall after three years of planning, supporting local meat processing capacity in the southern Interior. “We have settled on a butcher hub with two components, a dedicated space for cut-and-wrap with Magnum Meats as the tenant and a value-added meat processing area with a smokehouse and sausage-making equipment available for daily rental," says Vicki Gee, who sits on the food hub committee. The story appears in our March edition and we've uploaded it to our website.

[Schweb Cattle Co photo]
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Butcher hub moves ahead after three years

www.countrylifeinbc.com

ROCK CREEK – A planned food hub in the Kootenay Boundary region could be a reality this fall after three years of planning, supporting local meat processing capacity in the southern Interior.
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Jessica Coburn you see this?

Subscribe | Advertise

Community spirit honoured at gala

Janice Holzscherer, national head of Scotiabank, left, presents the Scotiabank Champion(s) of Agriculture award to Jimi Meyer and Hallie Jacobs during the BC Agriculture Council Gala in Abbotsford, January 25. Photo: Myrna Stark leader

February 1, 2023 byPeter Mitham

Five leaders in BC’s agricultural community were honoured at the BC Agriculture Council’s annual gala on January 25.

Dairy farmers Jimi Meyer and Hallie Jacobs were honoured with the Scotiabank Champion of Agriculture award for their support of Fraser Valley dairy farmers following the flooding in November 2021.

“Our initial goal was just to bring a bit of cheer,” Meier says in this month’s issue of Country Life in BC.

It turned into a $160,000-plus fundraising initiative that continues through the Facebook page Helping Sumas Prairie Farmers–Flood Support.

Recovery from the flood would have been impossible without government support, and the BC Agriculture Council took the rare step of awarding a seasoned bureaucrat with its “Special Recognition” award.

Retiring director, policy and product review, with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food’s Business Risk Management Branch Lonny Steward received the honour for his knowledge of support programs and the respect in which he was held nationally.

”Whenever I attended meetings across the country, government staff, farmers, knew who I was talking about,” former BCAC executive director Reg Ens says. “Some spoke his name almost with reverence, because he knew what he was talking about.”

Honoured with the Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher award was Michelle Jondra of Chilliwack, who has engaged children at several levels, not only about growing food, but serving it to others.

“They’re even more engaged in learning, she found out, when they plant, they maintain a garden, and then they gain the satisfaction of eating or sharing what they’ve grown,” says AITC BC executive director Pat Tonn.

The evening culminated with the presentation of the BCAC Excellence in Agricultural Leadership Award, which went to dairy farmer Ben Brandsema, honoured just two months earlier by dairy producers for his accomplishments.

“His leadership was fundamental with incorporating organic milk and other specialty milks within the supply-managed system,” BC Dairy Association vice-chair Sarah Sache said, noting that he continues to provide “pointed inspiration and motivation with grace.”

Brandsema says giving back is something he attempts to do, mindful of what others gave him.

“When I started farming, I really looked up to the leaders of the industry and spent a lot of time talking to them and learning from them, and so I’d like to try and pass along some of those experiences to the younger people coming in,” he says, advising others: “Find new ways to make your industry better than it was yesterday.”

The gala set the stage for the Pacific Agriculture Show and Regenerative Agriculture and Growers’ Short Course that followed over the next three days.

Show organizer Jim Shepard estimated attendance at between 5,000 and 6,000 people, on par with pre-pandemic numbers.

“Attendance was very good all three days, and conference registration was way up, too,” he said. “Big improvement from last year.”

More than 1,100 people registered to attend the short course in person and online, drawn in by a $15 registration fee subsidized by the province, which led the organizing of this year’s program.

“It was refreshing to see the ag community back together again preparing for a productive 2023 season,” Shepard said.

 

Related Posts

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

Food security funding welcomed

Carbon tax rebate announced

Farmers question regenerative ag agenda

Provincial employer registry backlogged

Senate report highlights need for flood plans

Ag Days hit Victoria

Disaster relief deadline passes

Budget consultation picks priorities

Hog farm invaders convicted

Farm status requires proof

Good land at risk

Wages rise June 1

Previous Post: « Provincial extension service coming
Next Post: Zero farm bankruptcies »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved