• 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

Current Issue:

September 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 9

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . 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

Follow us on Facebook

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

1 day ago

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays. ... See MoreSee Less

The Great Spallumcheen Farm & Food Festival and North Okanagan Plowing Match is happening this Sunday, September 24 from 10-3 at Fieldstone Organics, 4851 Schubert Rd, Armstrong. The outdoor festival features tastings and a market brimming with local food and beverage vendors, a horse and tractor plowing competition and vintage farm equipment displays.
View Comments
  • Likes: 8
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Patti 😊

3 days ago

... See MoreSee Less

View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

3 days ago

The top five issues the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity identified in a recent survey were the cost of food, inflation, the cost of energy, keeping healthy food affordable and the Canadian economy. “We are seeing that environmental concerns are not in the top 10,” says Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle Association’s public and stakeholder engagement program. “If you are concerned about being able to afford to feed your family, the environment becomes less important.” ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

www.countrylifeinbc.com

VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a producer-funded team at the Canadian Cattle Association has their back. Amy Peck, manager of the Canadian Cattle...
View Comments
  • Likes: 3
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

4 days ago

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million. ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Lake Country packing house sold

www.countrylifeinbc.com

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its long-term plan to consolidate operations. The sale, to an undisclosed buyer, closed on August 31, 2023 for $15.8 million.
View Comments
  • Likes: 7
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 5

Comment on Facebook

Who bought it ffs ?

Ted Nedjelski Karen Turner

One of my first jobs was apple grading in a packing plant in Vernon

Vivian, is this where you worked?

I’d hear the company that owns the big Cannabis company that owns the green houses all around this packing plant was buying up everything around to expand. Wonder if it’s them that got it.

View more comments

5 days ago

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Association's preparation for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/ ... See MoreSee Less

The federal government has committed $1.81 million over the next three years to support the BC Poultry Associations preparation  for direct participation in responses to future outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the province. “The persistence of the virus in wildlife and recurrence of outbreaks globally, presents additional risks during the migratory bird season in North America later in 2023,” the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Vancouver advised in July. For more, visit https://www.countrylifeinbc.com/ai-risk-rises-with-fall/
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

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

Flood recovery will take time

And so the clean-up begins. A fence at Copper Creek Ranch in Princeton is packed with debris from flooding that hit the area in November. [Catherine Brown photo]

December 8, 2021 byKate Ayers

The floodwaters are finally receding in the Lower Mainland, but farmers across southwestern BC now face the monumental challenge of cleaning up their properties.

Just 500 properties in the Fraser Valley remained under evacuation orders on December 7, according to the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Those farmers who have returned have been busy clearing debris, sanitizing facilities and trying to return ongoing operations to normal.

But the much larger task of disposing of carcasses, debris and preparing fields for a new growing season remains. The ministry says 626,000 poultry, 12,000 hogs and 420 dairy cattle perished in floods that hit the Lower Mainland following the extreme weather of November 13-15. The extent of losses in the Interior remains unknown.

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham plans to visit the Nicola Valley this week, weather permitting. Her federal counterpart, Marie-Claude Bibeau, also plans to visit BC in the coming days to see the damage and meet with producers.

Staff at emergency operations centres are organized into teams to assist farmers. The teams are helping producers coordinate feed and on-site care of animals and facilitate deadstock removal. Staff from the agriculture ministry are assisting with the removal of contaminated chemicals and other fertilizers, while the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy is the contact for other hazardous waste such as drywall.

Popham was unable to give an exact tally of ministry resources working with producers, but says it’s “all hands on deck” as the province moves from flood response to recovery.

Just how much work remains to be done is visible at Kane Lake Ranch west of Merritt, where John and Kate Anderson run 250 head.

The extensive damage to Highway 8, including the loss of four bridges, didn’t impact their ranch directly, but they still have plenty of cleaning up to do. Riparian improvements helped protect their property but will also require costly repairs.

“We are in a better position than a lot of people,” John told Country Life in BC. “We’ve invested significantly over the last few decades building riparian fish-friendly habitat along the river. … That helped us significantly with the flood but there is a lot of damage.”

The flooding took out fencing along the river as well as the pumphouse for their irrigation lines. In addition, John estimates that between 400 and 500 tons of hay in the Nicola Valley was lost.

“People have lost hay that they can’t retrieve … and that’s on top of a drought year,” he says.

He says government needs to provide immediate help ensuring local ranchers have access to feed, but also make long-term changes that streamline regulations governing works in riparian areas that help make the landscape and ranches more resilient.

The agriculture ministry has said it is assessing the feed resources available to support ranchers. It is also allowing for late participation in the 2021 AgriStability program. Producers who were not enrolled by December 1 can now submit claims for this year through to the end of 2022.

BC is also working with Ottawa to develop an AgriRecovery program that will provide support to producers affected by flooding and mudslides.

 

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

New federal minister

Livestock health in spotlight

Cattle

Province files AgriRecovery request

Tulip grower makes the shift to agritourism

Bilateral agreement signed

National celebration of agriculture

Ministers discuss avian influenza

Senate report highlights need for flood plans

CUSMA compensation announced

Province to fund school meals

Producers look beyond 2021’s floods

Farm status requires proof

Previous Post: « Bredenhofs win national honours
Next Post: Outstanding service acknowledged »

Copyright © 2023 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved