Country Life in BC wins big

An unprecedented year for BC farmers led to unprecedented recognition for Country Life in BC at the Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards in Regina last week.

The paper’s coverage of last year’s extreme weather and resilient people in words and photos garnered eight awards at the October 1 event, which drew entries from across Canada.

Photo of the Year went to Chelsea Meier of U&D Meier Dairy Ltd. in Abbotsford, whose front-page drone shot of last November’s flooding on Sumas Prairie captured her family’s farm surrounded by rising water as she awaited rescue.

It is the paper’s the second Photo of the Year award; the first was four years ago, depicting the devastation of another unprecedented event – the 2017 wildfires in the Chilcotin.

Kamloops photographer Murray Mitchell received a bronze award in the People category for his photo of Rhonda and Wayne MacDonald of Merritt on the cover of the November 2021 issue. Wildfire ripped through the MacDonald’s ranch last summer, and the couple have since faced two subsequent weather-related disasters.

Mitchell’s photo bumped contributor Ronda Payne’s photo of Vic Forster and Theresa O’Connor at Riverside Cranberries in Langley tossing cranberries for the camera of the November 2021 cover, but came out on top in the People category with a gold award.

In the Production category, photojournalist Jean-Phillipe Marquis won silver for a photo the Tsawwassen Farm School submitted two years ago and finally used alongside a hog story in the August 2021 issue.

Myrna Stark Leader received bronze for her ‘Night Moves’ shot on the August 2021 cover. It previously won first place in the Production category as part of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Star Awards in July.

On the writing front, Kate Ayers won top spot for her coverage of dairy farmers’ response to last year’s heat dome with the technical feature, “Helping cattle keep their cool in the heat” (August 2021). The highly competitive category saw the most entries of any, and Ayers finished ahead of veteran writers Karen Davidson of Ontario and CFWF Writer of the Year Trevor Bacque of Alberta.

“Farmers struggle to get insurance coverage” (July 2021) won Jackie Pearase bronze in the Current Affairs category.

On a lighter note, columnist Anna Helmer received gold in the Opinion category for “To hoard or not to hoard” (November 2021).

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7 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.