Hullcar report delayed

VICTORIA – One of the first orders of business for the BC NDP after its swearing in July 18 was to order a review of how the government of former Premier Christy Clark addressed aquifer contamination in the North Okanagan.

Due by September 30, the authors missed their deadline as the report required more time than expected.

“The report has not yet been finalized,” BC’s Ministry of Environment told Country Life in BC. “We expect to receive the report in the next few weeks and will make it publically available.”

Oliver Brandes, co-director of the POLIS Project on Ecological Governance at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies and a technical advisor to the province regarding the ongoing development and implementation of the Water Sustainability Act is leading the review. Calvin Sandborn of the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre is a special advisor.

Brandes and Sandborn are working with ministry staff to finalize the report in collaboration with First Nations and key stakeholders.

Trevor Hargreaves, director of producer relations and communications for the BC Dairy Association, has been actively involved in discussions regarding the aquifer since the issue emerged. However, he has not been given a timeline for the report’s delivery.

He’s looking forward to reading it, and hopes the extra time the province is taking underscores a desire to get it right.

“There’s no industry disappointment,” he said. “I would prefer the timeline is one that sees the analysis be fully and carefully completed rather than just trying to rush it out. … When it comes to an issue like this, there are many different facets for analysis.”

BC agriculture minister Lana Popham made a similar point shortly after the review’s announcement.

“Of course there’s a lot of finger-pointing at the agriculture industry,” she said. “But we have to consider all areas of pollutants, and potential pollutants.”

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2 days ago

KPU researcher Naomi Robert is partnering with Oregon State University's Dry Farming Collaborative to test drought-resilient growing practices across Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Working with three market gardeners, the study found tomatoes and zucchini thrived without irrigation. With droughts intensifying across the Pacific Northwest, dry farming offers BC growers practical tools to adapt to a changing climate. The full story appears in our April edition. tinyurl.com/d2fzs #BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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A Maple Ridge dairy producer has been fined $7,512, had his licence suspended for three months, and faces quota restrictions for two years after an undercover investigation confirmed raw milk was sold directly from the farm on three separate occasions.

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Maple Ridge farm fined for raw milk sales

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Raw milk remains off the table for dairy producers, with the BC Milk Marketing Board (BCMMB) taking action against a Maple Ridge producer for illicit sales. An undercover investigation of Maple Ridge�...

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Unpasteurized milk is sold in Europe. It's the only milk certain cheeses can be made from.

Europeans used raw milk to make cheese for millenia, the farmer should sue them back on cultural grounds and a charter violation.

A person can shoot up government drugs in a playground but milk is the issue. 🙄

Is there a go fund me?

Raised on raw milk and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My immune system is top notch compared to all others raised on corn syrup baby formula. Make it make sense!

When i was on the farm we would drink milk right from the cow in a bottle then drink and never got sick.

Ohh the milk moffia at it again I see

So whose the rat? lol one of the ppl who bought the raw milk? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I grew up in the 60’s with raw milk, cream and butter the farm shipped cream. One day the cream was rejected do too much bacteria. It wasn’t kept cool enough. That was the first of government control I experienced. Ok so the cream went back to the farm and made the best sourdough bread, ice cream and the cats came from heavens green acres for a treat of stale bread soaked in that very cream.

Yet the government can supply cigarettes, alcohol, weed and hard drugs. Makes sense. 🙄

leave him the hell alone! if someone wants to buy raw milk at their own risk, let them. At least they can see where the milk came from

If the farmer sold shares in his farm so all these people owned part of the farm. Then it’s their milk . And don’t have to buy anything

I would love my own cow so I could get raw milk

As the government sells alcohol and cigarettes 🤡

Free drugs good raw milk bad 🤣

Guy up the road sells milk raw here too

Raised on our own milk, so were my kids. Got told my kids would not be as Intelegent because of it 😂 they are adults and doing very well. The problem lays in the consumer handling of product after pick up. when milking at home its in a stainless steel pail, sifted, into glass containers, then in fridge to cool down. People picking up, put jn car drive off for an hour or more, then in fridge. This is the problem, bactia grows in the heat. Then they drink that evening when still warm, get sick, blame farm milk. Go to grocery store buy a jug, it last 2weeks after due date ...yummy. ( tested this therory) Id rather have fresh milk and properly handle it. Everything is so regulated,

I have mixed opinions here. I think that people should be able to get unpasteurized milk( I was raised on it and raised my own family with our own milk cow..) However in this day and age people are so inclined to sue for most anything it seems like the dairy farmers need some kind of protection against that? They could lose their businesses over legal procedures. Maybe that is a positive thing about the milk boards…

Some comments seem to be missing the point of the article. NO ONE was sick from the milk. It’s all about money. “By selling milk outside the regulated system, where revenues are pooled, the board claimed Stuyt had cost producers as a whole $195,185 and ordered him to repay this amount. It also ordered Stuyt to pay $33,266 to cover the cost of BCMMB’s investigation and hearings into the matter. The BC Dairy Association, which stood as an intervenor in the appeal before FIRB, said illicit raw milk sales are a direct threat to supply management.”

Just identify as first nations and say it's a cultural thing . Then it becomes legal

That's just sad, but drugs are fine

Communist Canada. If people want raw milk they should be able to buy raw milk. It’s all about control ….

You mean sold real milk, unadulterated, whole milk

To each their own. If people want to buy resh milk im sure they know the consequences involved. Maybe the people take it home, seperate the cream and pasturize it them selves. We drank milk at my aunts house off the cow but it was heated to 72’ (Pasturized )

Best way to drink the milk! Born and raised on it.....

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5 days ago

A draft update to the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle is now open for public comment until June 12. The code, one of 14 animal care codes developed and maintained by the National Farm Animal Care Council, is undergoing a routine 10-year review. "Your feedback will help shape the industry's guide to cattle welfare for the next decade," says Canadian Cattle Association policy manager Jessica Radau, urging producers to weigh in. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/58a3u9fz.

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I sat in the webinar yesterday by the Canadian Cattle Association. My initial concern was that this would be another "play" into the government's hands. It has been worked on by people that are actually in the Beef industry from Cow calf to feedlot. The thrust is an update of the 2013 Code of Practice which was reviewed in 2018. The changes are more a move from "left to the producers discretion" to clearer directions regarding pain management, proper transport of animals which are impaired and keeping cattle in in good condition. Much of what is recommended is what producers who care about animal husbandry already do. The important part is to GIVE THEM FEEDBACK good, bad or otherwise. The document is about 60 pages long, and I ran it through CHAT to see what had been changed. It is important to understand that the PUBLIC is invited to comment on the draft not just producers. Think about it... do you really want the public influencing how you manage your cattle. If you think that this is just one of those things, I have been following Bill 22 in Alberta which will grant the SPCA a proactive roll in entering farms and checking on animals. When I asked CHAT how the new bill relates to the Cattle Code, it came back that the Code although not a regulation will be able to be used as a guide by producers for backup in dealing with the SPCA regarding cattle conditions, sick animal handling etc. Take the time.... Go onto the Canadian Cattle Association website and speak to those parts that you wish to input.

6 days ago

According to the BC River Forecast Centre, the Okanagan snowpack stood at just 58% of normal on April 1 — the lowest reading since measurements began in 1980 — raising concerns about drought conditions in the region this summer. The rest of the province sits at 92% of normal.

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7 days ago

At her first AGM as executive director of BC Meats, held Saturday in Abbotsford, Jennifer Busmann spoke about her strong ties to agriculture and her optimism for the organization's future. Busmann has cattle of her own and came to the role with existing relationships with members and the board of directors that helped her feel integrated from the start. She stepped into the position in Februa#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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