The South Island Farmers Institute (SIFI) kicked off 2025 with the second edition of the revived Farmer to Farmer event, January 20-24.
A combination of field days and workshops brought together farmers and growers for knowledge-sharing, capacity-building and networking.
“The South Island Farmers Institute represents a dynamic group of growers and producers. We are committed to supporting our members and community growers succeed in enhancing soil and plant health,” says SIFI founder and president Katie Underwood.
Throughout the week, participants attended field days exploring greenhouse design and management, commercial scale post-harvest operations, farm water management, livestock husbandry and farm systems.
The field days saw farmers and other agricultural stakeholders come from as far as Delta, Comox, Nanaimo and Salt Spring Island.
SIFI’s Farmer to Farmer event builds on the success of the Farmer 2 Farmer gatherings the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFair) hosted prior to 2019.
“Through events like Farmer to Farmer, the institute strives for continued education, innovation and research,” Underwood says. “Ultimately, local collaboration will bolster the business of farming and agriculture to ensure growers are contributors to the social, economic and environmental fabric of the South Island’s long-term prosperity.”
In addition to field days at local farms, SIFI held its annual general meeting and conference at the Saanich Fairgrounds on January 23.
Underwood was elected president, succeeding Shellie MacDonald.
SIFI’s first 18 months has been “phenomenal,” MacDonald says, with the institute organizing 25 events, including the winter business, sustaining farms and innovation series.
“We have done great things and great things have happened because of all of you,” she told conference participants. “I hope that as we move forward and our teams evolve, that more and more of you become closely engaged with the work of the farmers institute.”
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