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MAY 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 4

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2 weeks 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.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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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.
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3 weeks 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.

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Milk board undertakes review

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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.
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3 weeks ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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3 weeks ago

Eric Feehely and Miho Shinbo are growing 30+ crops on 2.5 acres in Vernon. Writer Myrna Stark Leader takes a look at how Silverstar Veggies is balancing CSA programs, farmers markets and restaurant sales while planning smart expansions in challenging economic times in Market farm works smarter, not harder.

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Market farm works smarter, not harder

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VERNON – Silverstar Veggies, a five-year-old mixed vegetable and herb farm in Vernon, thrives on passion and innovative ideas. A former watersport and adventure sport instructor…
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1 month ago

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Disaster preparedness lacking

[BC Wildfire Service photo]

September 28, 2022 byPeter Mitham

Canada is among the top 10 most food-secure countries in the world, but it is among the least prepared for a major disaster.

While the country gets top marks for its political commitment to managing risks to the agriculture sector, an analysis released last week by Economist Impact with the assistance of Corteva Agriscience gave it zero points for disaster risk management.

According to the Global Food Security Index, the country’s lack of disaster risk management makes its food security vulnerable to pest infestations and disease outbreaks. The lack of preparation also weakens the country’s ability to recover when disasters happen.

Disaster risk management is scored under the heading sustainability and adaptation, which focuses on environmental risks to agriculture and the risk agriculture poses the environment.

“On measures of sustainability and adaptation there’s a lot of room for improvement,” says Sardar Karim, one of the researchers who developed the report.

While countries like Canada have strong rules protecting food quality and programs that limit malnutrition, they fall down in areas such as research, extension services and sustainability.

“These countries also have areas where they can further improve on, things like agricultural R&D, irrigation infrastructure, access to agricultural inputs for women farmers,” he says.

The report did not address government preparation for specific disasters, such as last year’s heat dome, wildfires and flooding, or responses to avian influenza and African Swine Fever.

BC Agriculture Council, which praised the province’s response to last fall’s flooding and landslides, declined comment on the report’s findings.

Despite the lack of disaster risk management, Canada ranked 29th in the world for sustainability and adaptation and seventh overall out of 113 countries surveyed for the Global Food Security Index.

Canada’s overall score of 79.1 saw it place just after Japan (79.5) and on par with Sweden.

Finland tops the list at 83.5, while war-ravaged Syria is last at 36.3.

Ukraine, where Russia’s invasion February 24 is credited with supercharging a three-pronged food, energy and fiscal crisis, ranks 71st.

“Armed conflict is strongly linked to lower food security scores. Conflict negatively affects almost every aspect of the food system, from production, harvesting, processing and transport to input supply, financing, marketing and consumption,” the report states.

But even peaceful, top-ranked countries face challenges.

Canada’s score, for example, has slipped over the past three years even as it has increased in the rankings.

In 2019, it ranked eighth with a score of 82.4. Last year, it ranked seventh with a score of 79.8, just ahead of Japan.

 

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