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September 2023
Vol. 109 Issue 9

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1 week 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.
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Patti 😊

2 weeks ago

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2 weeks 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

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Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

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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 Cattleâ...
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2 weeks 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

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Lake Country packing house sold

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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.
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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.

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2 weeks 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/
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Industry mourns abattoir champion

Chad & Erika Maarhuis; Shari Saysomsack photo [Magnum Meats Facebook]

May 13, 2020 byTom Walker

A young champion for more meat processing capacity in the Southern Interior has died.

Chad Maarhuis of Magnum Meats in Rock Creek collapsed May 10 following a business trip to Calgary. He was 37.

A graduate of the meat-cutting course at Thompson Rivers University, Maarhuis purchased Magnum Meats with his wife Erika in 2008. It operates the only abattoir in the Kelowna-Osoyoos-Creston triangle under a B-class licence. The business grew steadily and currently serves more than 800 meat producers in the southern Interior.

To meet growing demand for processing capacity, a proposal has been put forward whereby a co-op would set up a processing plant and lease it to Magnum, whose own cut-and-wrap business is at capacity. This would build on Maarhuis’ expertise to expand processing capacity in the region.

The new facility could also make value-added products like sausages, something that interested Maarhuis. His recent trip to Calgary included the purchase of new sausage equipment and a smoker.

The local community and industry have rallied around the family, helping take care of immediate tasks while issues around ongoing operations get sorted out.

Maarhuis was vice-president of the BC Abattoirs Association and executive director Nova Woodbury is proud of how everyone, including the province’s meat inspector for the area, has stepped up to ensure the family has the support it needs. He leaves behind wife Erika, and three young children, Montana, Hunter and Casey.

 

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