Maple Ridge farm fined for raw milk sales

Raw milk remains off the table for dairy producers, with the BC Milk Marketing Board (BCMMB) taking action against a Maple Ridge producer for illicit sales.

An undercover investigation of Maple Ridge producer Kevin Davison resulted in Davison Farms ordered to pay $7,512 in expenses related to a show-cause hearing last month. The farm has also had its licence suspended for three months and faces quota restrictions for two years.

The hearing put the onus on Davison to “show cause as to why the Board should not take action” following an investigation that successfully bought raw, unpasteurized milk from the farm on three separate occasions in February and March.

“BCMMB staff attended the farm on March 16, 2026, and interviewed Kevin Davison, who admitted selling milk directly from the farm,” the board said in an April 8 memo to industry.

Neither BCMMB general manager Rob Delage nor Davison was immediately available for comment.

The matter came to light following an anonymous e-mail complaint in February.

Five years ago, the board took action against Agassiz producer Adrie Stuyt of Hol-Amer Farms for selling raw milk to a commercial buyer in Surrey.

“Stuyt conceded that over seven years, he had received approximately $50,000 from sales of milk other than through the Milk Board,” according to BC Farm Industry Review Board (BC FIRB) filings related to Stuyt’s appeal of BCMMB’s actions.

Stuyt said he was receiving 40 cents a litre from the buyer at the time he was caught.

By selling milk outside the regulated system, where revenues are pooled, the board claimed Stuyt had cost producers as a whole $195,185 and ordered him to repay this amount. It also ordered Stuyt to pay $33,266 to cover the cost of BCMMB’s investigation and hearings into the matter.

The BC Dairy Association, which stood as an intervenor in the appeal before FIRB, said illicit raw milk sales are a direct threat to supply management.

“Dairy farmers who benefit from the system have an obligation to comply with the restrictions that make the system functional,” BC Dairy said in its submission. “If individual farmers believe they can personally do better by selling milk outside the quota system, then pricing stability is lost, and all dairy farmers are worse off.”

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19 hours ago

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1 day 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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5 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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6 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.