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MAY 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 4

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1 week 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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2 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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2 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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2 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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4 weeks ago

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Mental health in the spotlight

December 1, 2021 byPeter Mitham

Comprehensive financial compensation for BC mink farmers being pushed out of business and growers displaced by the ongoing extreme weather across southwestern BC has yet to be announced, but in both cases the province has been quick to highlight mental health support for growers.

The province’s agriculture ministry even went so far as to say the province would curtail its reporting of flood losses out of respect for the impacts the updates could have on the outlook and well-being of farmers.

The high profile of mental wellness in government and on the ground is one of three trends affecting Canada’s food sector according to Len Kahn of Kahntact in Guelph, an affiliate of the Toronto-based agrifood communications firm Nourish Network.

Nourish released its annual food trends report last week, and called out mental health, the ongoing labour shortage and economic headwinds as three issues set to impact the farm sector in 2022.

While technology can be a solution to the labour shortage, it is also expensive. Rising interest rates on the financing needed to invest in technology threaten to raise the pressure on farmers, most of whom have limited ability to pass on these higher costs to buyers.

“Prices cannot be passed directly on to the consumer, so the farmer can get hit on both sides,” says Kahn. “Technology has made farming easier in the fiscal sense, but the overall pressures are much higher.”

Citing a University of Guelph study published in 2018, Kahn notes that 58% of farmers meet the diagnostic criteria for anxiety and a lower level of mental wellness.

“It has consequences for the industry as a whole,” he notes.

This is where government recognition of the problem during times of crisis can make a difference, says Kahn. In addition, the Do More Agriculture Foundation and Farm Credit Canada’s dedicated Wellness page all play a role.

“Talk about these things. Know that there’s help out there,” he says. “There’s no silver bullet for this; it’s more of an ongoing thing. But I do think the fact that it is rising up to the attention level of the industry is a positive.”

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