Country Life in BC reporting honoured

Country Life in BC was recognized at the annual Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards for excellence in agricultural communications in Halifax on October 5.

The paper took top honours in two categories, Production Photography and People Feature.

Photographer Kari Lynn Turner won gold for Roll Call, a photo in the January 2023 paper showing the herd at Ogilvie Stock Ranch in Kamloops falling into line as a round bale is readied to roll out on a winter day.

Nelson-based correspondent Brian Lawrence won gold in the People Feature category for “Growing opportunities for fellow farms”, a profile of Nathan Wild and Emily Woody of Confluence Farms near Castlegar published in August 2023.

August 2023 also saw publication of columnist Kathleen Gibson’s award-winning Viewpoint “Reconciliation is more than just a land deal.” The piece won bronze for opinion writing.
The winning streak continued in the September issue, with two more bronze awards.

Tracey Fredrickson’s profile “Off-the-grid organic farm thrives on efficiency,” which told the story of Gary Diers and Inanna Judd of Tipiland Organic Produce – now Argenta Farms – was the bronze recipient in the People Feature category.

Tom Walker’s technical feature, “Grasslands take carbon storage underground,” in the same paper also received a bronze award.

In the Business Economics Reporting category, associate editor Peter Mitham won bronze for his clear presentation of the financial challenges facing the dairy sector in the February 2023 paper, “Dairy farmers on the brink.”

Contributors to Country Life in BC also won honours for submissions published elsewhere.

Vancouver Island correspondent Kate Ayers won silver in the Communication Short category for her farm safety piece, “Rate of child on-farm injuries unchanged for decades,” in the Spring 2023 issue of BC Holstein News (now Western Canadian Dairy News).

The annual awards competition attracted 149 submissions from across Canada in 5 categories. A total of 48 awards were presented. Country Life in BC congratulates all the winners.

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1 week ago

Canada's mushroom growers will have to post countervailing duties next week following a US Department of Commerce determination that Canada's tax regime effectively subsidized growers, allowing them to cause "material injury" to US growers through their exports. Canada is a major exporter of mushrooms to the US, with the countries effectively operating as a single value chain thanks in part to one of the largest mushroom producers, South Mill Champs, headquartered in Pennsylvania.

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2 weeks ago

The Jura Ranch near Princeton sold for nearly $5.3 million on May 12, the largest online ranch sale in BC in months, according to CLHBid.com, which handled the sale. The buyer was not named. Formerly owned by Rob and Kelly Lamoureux, which developed the successful Jura Grassfed brand, the ranch includes 2,625 deeded acres and a grazing licence totalling 83,698 acres. Originally offered at $4.2 million, the competitive bidding process delivered a higher value than the current market would suggest. Farm Credit Canada’s latest farmland value survey pointed to 1.7% decline in BC last year, which observers have attributed to tight margins and uncertainties related to Crown tenure.

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I sure hope it remains as farm land rather than a wind or solar installation.

Great grassland

yeah, who bought it? where are the checks and balances that ensure a ranch can continue being a ranch?

Uncertainty about crown land, aka native land grabs and unceded land claims being tossed around like it wasn't meant to destabilize the country?

American businessmen have quietly accumulated nearly 4,000 acres of farmland in the Robson Valley community of Dunster, sparking calls for restrictions on foreign and corporate agricultural land ownership in BC. Residents say the buy-up has driven population decline and priced out young farmers. MLAs from both parties and a UNBC professor are pointing to Quebec's new farmland protection legislation as a model BC should follo#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Foreign land buyers hollow out Dunster

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DUNSTER – Purchases of swathes of farmland in the Robson Valley by wealthy American businessmen have some in BC demanding restrictions on foreign and corporate ownership of agricultural land.

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This is a serious issue in Dunster and one that has impacts for wildlife and human neighbours.

Representatives from Quail's Gate Winery Estate Winery in West Kelowna were panellists during the Okanagan Cultivates event held at Okanagan College's Kelowna campus on May 7. The college has been hosting events like this to help elevate conversations in the community about what's grown locally and its impact on the region's food, wine and tourism industry. The Quail's Gate panel, which included Ben Stewart, discussed the long history of grape growing and winemaking in front of a large crowd who came to listen, learn and taste products from a number of local wineries and restaurants. A new $48.8M food, wine and tourism centre is now under construction at the college to open in fall 2027. The building will have modern food labs, a student-led restaurant and café and specialized training spaces for culinary, viticultu#BCAgd tourism studies.

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