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MAY 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 4

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2 weeks ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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3 weeks ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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3 weeks ago

BC wool shipments drop sharply in 2023, according to StatsCan data released in mid-April. Local producers shipped just 5,200kg at 37¢/kg, down from 18,600kg at $1.08/kg in 2022. While many farmers now use wool on-farm or dispose of it due to low market value, innovative producers like Emily McIvor point to untapped opportunities. Read more in our Farm News Update from Country Life in BC.

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BC wool value, volume drop

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BC sheep producers shipped less wool for less in 2023, reversing strong growth a year earlier. BC producers shipped 5,200 kilograms of raw wool in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data released on...
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3 weeks ago

Eric Feehely and Miho Shinbo are growing 30+ crops on 2.5 acres in Vernon. Writer Myrna Stark Leader takes a look at how Silverstar Veggies is balancing CSA programs, farmers markets and restaurant sales while planning smart expansions in challenging economic times in Market farm works smarter, not harder.

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Market farm works smarter, not harder

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VERNON – Silverstar Veggies, a five-year-old mixed vegetable and herb farm in Vernon, thrives on passion and innovative ideas. A former watersport and adventure sport instructor…
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1 month ago

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Indigenizing agriculture, ensuring food supply resiliency

Jennifer Grenz

June 22, 2022 byKate Ayers

Indigenous communities across the province were hit hard by food chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 and last year’s myriad natural disasters.

But many groups are working together to produce food locally while also bringing Indigenous farming roots to light.

“There is a lack of recognition that there are many Indigenous people that are very engaged in agriculture. My great-grandparents were ranchers in the Shuswap, and we are still very much engaged in agriculture in the province,” says agrologist Jennifer Grenz, an assistant professor at UBC in the faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems.

“We are the original farmers and food growers and used a lot of sophisticated technology,” she says. “Our methods of shaping our lands and waters to provide everything that people needed has a far longer history than the settler agrarian history of our province. It’s orders of magnitude shorter.”

While all producers are stewards of their land and animals, Grenz says the Indigenous approach to food production was a holistic one that could help make current systems more resilient.

“As we face a changing climate and all the challenges associated with that – supply chain disruptions, costs of food – we need to be looking to those practices that sustained people for much longer to inform our practices moving forward,” she says.

It’s a perspective that hasn’t always had a place in policy discussions, however.

A new committee set up to advise and guide the province’s regenerative agriculture and agritech strategy is helping to change that, however.

The committee’s 17 members were named by BC agriculture minister Lana Popham on June 14. She says they bring diverse backgrounds and expertise in food production that will help create a more resilient food system.

Jacob Beaton, co-owner and operator of Tea Creek, a land-based and Indigenous-led training initiative in Kitwanga focused on food sovereignty and trades training is one of 17 committee members announced June 14.

“Regenerative agriculture was and has been practised by Indigenous people and Nations in the Americas for thousands of years,” Beaton says in the release. “I’m excited to bring an Indigenous farming perspective to this important and timely group as we help shape the future of BC agriculture.”

Tea Creek recently won the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s Food Lands award. Established in 2019, the farm team trains and mentors over 1,000 people each year. It gifted more than 20,000 pounds of food to the community in 2021.

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