• Menu
  • Skip to primary 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:

FEBRUARY 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 2

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. 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

CPR on ALR Track

Sea of greens

Farm properties rising

Genomics lab expands service to local growers

Editorial: Put farmers first

Back 40: Knowing when to pull back on extensions

Viewpoint: A watershed moment for BC farms

Egg producer questions support for local eggs

Milk consumption up among young minorities

Nutrient recovery system in third phase

North Saanich approves Sandown proprosal

Tsartlip acquire Woodwyn Farm with provincial help

Woodwynn Farm was first known as Mawuec

Pandemic was profitable for nursery growers

Researcher brings experience to sweet role

Consultant delivered practical advice

Tributes pour in for Island farmer Colin Springford

On-farm abattoir approved for Alberni Valley

Plans for a provincial weather network move forward

Feedlots under pressure with kill instability

If you go out in the woods today …

Round bale bounty

CFIA services get a funding boost

Help available for farm business succession

Sidebar: Considering all the options

Diversification helps farms prepare for challenges

Creston advocacy group continues push for food hub

Frind matches his love of data with grape production

Greenhouse sets example for others to follow

On-farm food networks wire farms for success

OK irrigation systems have a long history

Pemberton family farms beer with deep roots

When life gives you lemons

Personal money strategy as important as farm stragegy

Farm Story: Winter brings the distractions of technology

Well-designed vegetable coolers make for hot sales

Woodshed: Janice Newberry sets the record straight

Research: Plants can recognize attacking herbivores

Jude’s Kitchen: Super simple

More Headlines

Follow us on Facebook

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

2 weeks ago

... See MoreSee Less

View Comments
  • Likes: 5
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

4 weeks ago

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

#BCAg
View Comments
  • Likes: 51
  • Shares: 12
  • Comments: 12

Comment on Facebook

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations 👍🎉

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

View more comments

4 weeks ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

www.countrylifeinbc.com

KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
View Comments
  • Likes: 7
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 months ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

#bcag
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Arts leads BCFGA forward

www.countrylifeinbc.com

A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
View Comments
  • Likes: 8
  • Shares: 2
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

2 months ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

#bcag
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Milk board undertakes review

www.countrylifeinbc.com

A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook

CPR on ALR track

Rail projects not subject to ALC approval

February 1, 2021 byPeter Mitham

PITT MEADOWS – Pitt Meadows could lose more than 100 acres of protected farmland if CP Rail wins approval to expand its operations in the community.

Plans for the CP Logistics Park [cplogisticspark.ca] were unveiled in December following consultations with the municipality, Katzie First Nation and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority last summer. An initial public consultation on the project wrapped up January 15.

“CP is proposing to construct a multi-modal, multi-commodity transload and logistics facility adjacent to its Vancouver Intermodal Facility in Pitt Meadows, to meet increased rail demand in Canada’s largest trade gateway,” the rail company says.

Project documents outline plans for 13 silos accommodating 15,600 tonnes of peas, lentils and beans (the equivalent of 147 train cars, or one unit train), an auto transload facility, and 11 tanks for holding ethanol and transportation fuels from Alberta and the US Midwest for distribution locally and overseas.

The project will occupy 101 acres south of Lougheed Highway. CP acquired the properties making up the site between 2012 and 2017. The land falls within the Agricultural Land Reserve. However, railway development falls within the jurisdiction of the federal government. CP does not need to file an application with the Agricultural Land Commission to develop a rail line on the property.

This concerns Shannon Roberts of Blooming Meadows, who operates a small-lot mixed farm with her sister near the proposed facility. She also worries about site safety, light pollution and the effect of particulate matter from site activities on her laying hens and field-grown cut flowers.

“A dirty flower is not a sellable flower,” she says, noting that hundreds of trucks will be needed to bring fill to the site, which sits on the floodplain adjacent to the Pitt River.

Preload will affect the water table in the area, which already suffers from drainage issues.

“I honestly don’t feel like I’m going to be able to farm my land,” she said. “I feel like it will be flooded.”

Drainage concerns

Similar concerns were raised when CP bought 58 acres of the site in 2012. Pitt Meadows, which is set to receive at least $4 million in property taxes each year from the proposed development, said at the time it was confident CP would work to mitigate drainage problems.

During an open house in January attended by close to 100 people, CP environmental assessment manager Joe Van Humbeck said the railway is studying the project’s impact on surface water and groundwater, and drafting storm water management plans.

“This data will feed into our engineering team to ensure that our facility includes the measures required to protect the Katzie Slough, the groundwater as well as the other attributes of the environment,” he says.

CP assistant vice-president, market strategy and demand management Jeff Edwards says mitigation plans for adjacent farmland are also under development.

“We recognize the importance of this valuable land and the fact that there is a great deal of support behind the agricultural land across the Lower Mainland,” he says.

However, he adds that the site is ideal for the project, since it’s adjacent to CP’s existing facilities in Pitt Meadows. While the loss will be felt locally, the project will benefit the agriculture sector nationally.

“We are opening markets and supporting the greater Canadian agricultural community through this development,” Edwards says. “I realize that’s not as specific to the local agricultural community … but we look forward to further conversations with local agricultural organizations, and I hope we get to have more of those conversations in the near future to better understand the impacts and the mitigation that we can work with them on.”

Speaking as director of operations for Pitt Meadows in 2012, Kim Grout – now CEO of the Agricultural Land Commission – said CP has a long-term vision for its properties. The commission is among the parties that intend to provide feedback on CP’s plans for the farmland.

A summary report from the first consultation will be available in March, with mitigation plans unveiled this summer. Construction of the project could begin as early as 2026 if federal authorities approve.

 

Previous Post: « Egg producer questions support for local eggs
Next Post: Genomics lab expands service to local growers »

Copyright © 2025 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved