• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

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

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Current Issue:

JANUARY 2021
Vol. 107 Issue 1

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Country Life in BC, 36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, V0E1V4. 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
Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration. ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago

Vancouver council has rejected a bid to subdivide some of its only land within the Agricultural Land Reserve. The 8-acre site at 7520 Balaclava Street is home to an unused horse paddock and the former Celtic Shipyards. Vancouver council chose not to forward the application to the Agricultural Land Commission because subdivision would create lots that were too small at a site with multiple environmental and geotechnical issues. The cultural significance of the site to the Musqueam First Nation was also a consideration.
View Comments
  • Likes: 8
  • Shares: 2
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Let’s hope someone with an Ag vision buys the property..

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. "Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. "The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes." Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

5 days ago

Seasonal workers continue to benefit from BC’s acclaimed publicly funded quarantine program, which covers the cost of meals and accommodations for incoming foreign workers during their mandatory self-isolation period. To date this year, 14 incoming workers have tested positive for COVID-19, with nine remaining in isolation and five cleared to work on BC farms. Through this program, we have been able to help preserve our province’s food supply by ensuring local food continues to be grown and harvested throughout the pandemic,” the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries told Country Life in BC. The program is regarded as best practice by other jurisdictions and the province is continuing with the self-isolation program for 2021 without significant changes. Subscribe to Country Life in BC at buff.ly/2ReiFur
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BC's farmers and ranchers. ... See MoreSee Less

6 days ago

Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has awarded $6 million to Vancouver-based Enterra Feed Corp. through the federal AgriInnovate program to develop a full-scale commercial facility north of Calgary for the production of insect-based feed ingredients. The new facility handles more than 130 tonnes of food waste per day and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. The larvae are harvested and processed for use in feed products for poultry, pets and wild birds. The first of its kind in Canada, the facility ships products across North America as well as to the EU. Country Life in BC is the agricultural new source for BCs farmers and ranchers.
View Comments
  • Likes: 25
  • Shares: 9
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Cammy Lockwood, great news for Enterra

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BC's farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

CP Rail’s plans for a new logistics facility on 100 acres of farmland in Pitt Meadows is facing opposition from neighbours, who question the impact of the project on their community and local agriculture. Close to 100 residents questioned CP representatives in an online open house this week but received few definitive answers. The project is exempt from Agricultural Land Commission and local government approval. Results of a survey that closes today will be made public in March, with mitigation measures of the project provided this summer. Construction could begin in 2026 if federal authorities approve. Country Life in BC is the agricultural news source for BCs farmers and ranchers. buff.ly/2ReiFur
View Comments
  • Likes: 1
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

www.facebook.com/groups/247315310159788/?ref=share

The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: buff.ly/3bCMzSW ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

The BC Ministry of Agriculture has announced a new round of funding this week to support more community projects aimed at protecting the health and habitat of bees. The Bee BC program provides up to $5,000 to fund smaller-scale, community-based projects enhancing bee health throughout the province. Since launching in 2018, Bee BC has contributed almost $280,000 to 62 projects. The last round of 24 approved projects projects ranged from providing education in communities to planting bee-specific forage to using innovation and technology to help protect and ensure bee health in BC. The program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation. Check out the program guide for more information: https://buff.ly/3bCMzSW
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 4
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Subscribe | Advertise

Growers scramble as pandemic spreads

March 18, 2020 byPeter Mitham

The World Health Organization’s elevation of the new coronavirus COVID-19 to pandemic status on March 11 has sent farm organizations scrambling to assess the impact.

While no BC farmers are known to be infected with the virus, many who have returned to the country from abroad this month are in self-quarantine as a precaution.

Meanwhile, a host of measures have been rolled out in response to limit the impacts of the virus. BC has limited public events to no more than 50 people, all of whom must be at least one metre from each other. The restrictions have also prompted a growing number of farm organizations to postpone or cancel meetings and auctions scheduled as late as the end of May. (Check the Country Life in BC calendar for the latest updates.)

Business closures and disruptions to supply chains are also having an impact. Suppliers to the sector are reporting that inventory is either delayed or not available.

An immediate concern for many farmers is access to labour. With just a third of the more than 8,000 foreign workers who travel to the province having arrived, travel restrictions have farm organizations scrambling to secure access.

Working with the Canadian Horticulture Council and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the BC Agriculture Council is submitting a proposal today that asks Ottawa to treat seasonal and temporary foreign workers like permanent residents.

“How do we as an industry apply the same principals that apply to Canadian residents returning from Mexico to the Mexican workers that come to Canada?” says Reg Ens, describing the proposal. “This is an issue that has to be resolved in days, not weeks.”

Ens said officials in Ottawa have been sympathetic, and he’s optimistic.

“They indicate that the food supply is a critical issue for Canada, and they’re receptive to hearing what we have to say,” he says.

Discussions are also ongoing between the federal and territorial ministers of agriculture regarding the pandemic, and ways to support farmers impacted by the pandemic.

A request for an interview with BC agriculture minister Lana Popham drew a statement from her staff regarding the seriousness with which she’s taking farmers’ concerns.

“I’m hearing concerns about everything from revenue and market access to supply chains and labour,” she said. “I am working closely with our federal partners to review how existing and additional programs that help producers who experience income losses may be used or developed to help producers who experience revenue declines this year.”

Ens said the focus needs to be on immediate measures, not income stabilization.

“We’re trying to keep the wheels on the bus, not put the patch on the tire,” he said.

Among the measures industry believes would help are access to working capital, tax deferral programs and measures to address the red tape that makes hard times harder to navigate.

“Those are the kinds of things we’re thinking of right now rather than AgriStability,” he says.

Originally identified in Wuhan, China in November 2019, COVID-19 has spread to 164 countries and territories. Close to 200,000 people have become infected, with more than 8,400 deaths.

 

Related Posts

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

Provincial quarantine program working

Seedy Sunday goes seedless

New year, new openness

COVID-19 hits Fraser Valley farms

Dairy sector demands action

Poultry plant outbreak

Election delays funding

Turkey sales up

Abattoir association calls for action

Agriculture nabs recovery funding

SAWP leeway sought

Field days feeling the pinch of social distancing rules

Previous Post: « Diagnostic services continue
Next Post: Business financing available »

Reader Interactions

Footer

Country Life in BC

36 Dale Road, Enderby, BC, Canada V0E 1V4

  • 604-328-3814
  • office@countrylifeinbc.com

Copyright © 2021 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved