Horticulture projects receive funding

Ottawa has announced millions of dollars in funding for horticulture research at events on both sides of the country.

On March 11, federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced up to $4.2 million in funding for the BC Fruit Growers Association. The cash will support the development of new apple and cherry cultivars. The funding for BCFGA comes under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Agri-Science Program and will support trials of potential new varieties in BC, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Fruit breeding takes place at the federal government’s Summerland Research and Development Centre under Amrit Singh. BCFGA is receiving the federal funding because new varieties are managed by Summerland Varieties Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the association.

The support for apple and cherry development follows the announcement on March 6 of up to $11.5 million in support of projects related to pest and disease management, post-harvest storage and handling of apples, berries, field vegetables, potatoes and greenhouse crops.

The funding was announced in Halifax at the annual general meeting of the Canadian Horticulture Council, which leads the national horticulture cluster. It also flows from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). Additional funding from industry will boost the investment to $18 million.

The funding will support sustainable practices to reduce the sector’s environmental footprint. It will also support the development of new crop varieties to ensure the sector’s competitiveness and profitability.

While the funding represents an investment in research of more than $22 million from government and industry, BC berry growers have yet to receive word on funding for their own breeding projects under the CAP.

The Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association took over coordination of the berry breeding program from the federal government in 2013.

“We have been running a bare-bones program the past year using our own resources,” berry grower David Mutz told LMHIA members during their annual meeting at the Pacific Ag Show less than two months ago.

LMHIA had applied for $2.5 million in federal and provincial funding to cover 2018-2022.

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The Jura Ranch near Princeton sold for nearly $5.3 million on May 12, the largest online ranch sale in BC in months, according to CLHBid.com, which handled the sale. The buyer was not named. Formerly owned by Rob and Kelly Lamoureux, which developed the successful Jura Grassfed brand, the ranch includes 2,625 deeded acres and a grazing licence totalling 83,698 acres. Originally offered at $4.2 million, the competitive bidding process delivered a higher value than the current market would suggest. Farm Credit Canada’s latest farmland value survey pointed to 1.7% decline in BC last year, which observers have attributed to tight margins and uncertainties related to Crown tenure.

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I sure hope it remains as farm land rather than a wind or solar installation.

Great grassland

yeah, who bought it? where are the checks and balances that ensure a ranch can continue being a ranch?

Uncertainty about crown land, aka native land grabs and unceded land claims being tossed around like it wasn't meant to destabilize the country?

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Foreign land buyers hollow out Dunster

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DUNSTER – Purchases of swathes of farmland in the Robson Valley by wealthy American businessmen have some in BC demanding restrictions on foreign and corporate ownership of agricultural land.

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Are they using them for AI data centres?

This is a serious issue in Dunster and one that has impacts for wildlife and human neighbours.

Representatives from Quail's Gate Winery Estate Winery in West Kelowna were panellists during the Okanagan Cultivates event held at Okanagan College's Kelowna campus on May 7. The college has been hosting events like this to help elevate conversations in the community about what's grown locally and its impact on the region's food, wine and tourism industry. The Quail's Gate panel, which included Ben Stewart, discussed the long history of grape growing and winemaking in front of a large crowd who came to listen, learn and taste products from a number of local wineries and restaurants. A new $48.8M food, wine and tourism centre is now under construction at the college to open in fall 2027. The building will have modern food labs, a student-led restaurant and café and specialized training spaces for culinary, viticultu#BCAgd tourism studies.

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