Feed available but stocks low

The outlook for feed is good this season, a year after the BC Cattlemen’s Association launched its Access to Feed program with provincial support.

BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon says BC is close to an average hay crop this year.

“We are seeing [more] consistent crops throughout the province,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon. “The Peace is probably again one of the hardest hit, if not the hardest hit for hay, but they are getting some crops off and it’s coming in.”

The big production areas, including the Nechako, Skeena and Highway 16 corridor typically export hay but did not have any to sell last year.

Whether or not this year’s average season delivers a surplus to help replenish hay stocks will depend on whether producers get a third cut or if the province shuts down irrigators like it did last year.

“It’s that third cut that is not taken yet that is hanging in the balance for irrigated land,” Boon says.

This year, the first and only cut in dryland areas had average or above-average yields and Boon expects producers in those regions will have hay for sale.

However, few producers have been in contact with Access to Feed to offer excess hay.

“Until we start to see hay get cut, we’re not going to see anything that we can match people up with and then after even at that, [it will be] the second and third cuts before they start understanding whether they’re going to have excess out there,” Boon explains.

Producers looking to sell or buy hay can go to BCCA’s website to get an idea of the inventory in their regions. Then, a coordinator will match producers without feed with a supplier.

The Access to Feed program, led by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food and BCCA, launched July 25, 2023. BCCA worked with the BC Grain Producers, BC Dairy Association, BC Forage Council and BC Horse Council to search out feed domestically and internationally.

The province provided $150,000 to BCCA to support the program last year but just $35,000 was required.

As a result, $50,000 was allocated to the program this year, with an additional $300,000 allocated to Livestock Drought Management Workshops.

All content on this website is copyrighted, and cannot be republished or reproduced without permission.

4 hours ago

Premier David Eby has promised to loosen local-sourcing rules for food processors in the ALR if re-elected, even before results of the province’s public consultation have been released. The BC Agriculture Council says the pledge undermines a process farmers took part in good faith. Today's Farm News Update from Country Life in BC looks at where the parties stand on agriculture ahead of the October 24 vote. www.countrylifeinbc.com/premier-called-out-over-alr-pledge/

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

View Comments

Likes: 1
Shares: 0
Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

But he doesn't support local organizations that allow residents to grow their own food like the Blenkinsop Community Agricultural Centre

1 day ago

It was another sell-out at the 31st annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival on Saturday with organizers selling 5,000 pounds of locally-grown, fresh berries in less than five hours. Youth from the Fort Langley Lions Club's Young Lions program scooped, bagged and weighed several pallets' worth of cranberries. Ocean Spray donated the berries, which the public bought to benefit the community. Local grower The Bog was also selling fresh berries, having brought 2,700 pounds, which were on track to sell out by the end of the#BCAgt.

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 5
Shares: 0
Comments: 0

6 days ago

There was a lot of reminiscing and appreciation of how far BC's turkey industry has come at a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the BC Turkey Association and the 60th anniversary of the BC Turkey Marketing Board yesterday in Abbotsford. With a slideshow of events and people over the years, guests laughed and had a lot to be thankful for. "It's an opportunity to celebrate the industry at a time of year that's known for turkey. It's a culmination of all the year's work," says Natalie Veles, executive director with BC Turkey Marketing Board.

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 17
Shares: 0
Comments: 1

Love it - Deb Etsell I see you 🤩

1 week ago

BC was the sole province to see farmland values decline in the first half of this year, dropping 1.9% according to a Farm Credit Canada report released Octover 7. This represented an acceleration in value declines from last year, and contributed to a 3.9% decline in the 12 montsh ended June 30. The drop follows on a 1.7% decline last year, which Farm Credit Canada attributed to tougher times in the fruit sector. However, the mid-year report points to a broader slowdown in value growth diven by higher production costs, tighter margins and uncertainty around trade, tariffs and international markets.

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 3
Shares: 1
Comments: 1

Ndp

3 weeks ago

Channels of communication remain open between the provincial and federal governments with respect to financial relief for extraordinary costs stemming from this summer's ongoing drought and wildfires, but the BC Cattlemen's Association is urging producers to register for AgriStability to position themselves for any AgriRecovery package. "Hardworking families in the ranching and agriculture sectors, who provide food for the province, need the AgriRecovery program in place as soon as possible," says BC Cattlemen's president Alex Kuchar. But the provincial election creates an unfortunate delay. "It's not fair, in any form of the word, to see all those people who have lost so much in the fires to have to wait in limbo," says BC Cattlemen's general manager Kevin Boon.

Photo | Barb Edmonson / Firefly Ranch, Clinton

#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Likes: 6
Shares: 7
Comments: 0