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JULY 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 6

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

Congratulations 👍🎉

Congratulations

Congratulations <3

Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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1 month ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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2 months 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 months 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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Mink farmers sue government

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November 15, 2023 byPeter Mitham

The mink are gone, but not the legal challenges.

The first livestock sector shut down by the province is continuing its fight against a November 2021 order that immediately ended breeding activities and require the removal of all live mink from the province’s nine farms by this past April. The industry, which produced 318,000 mink a year at the time of the order, must cease all operations by 2025.

Five producers shut down by the ban have filed suit against the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and the province’s top vet at the time, Dr. Rayna Gunvaldsen, seeking damages related to the abrupt and sudden loss of their multigenerational family businesses.

These include damages for economic and business losses stemming from the ban, the cost of winding down their businesses and “emotional pain and suffering.”

The statements of claim filed by the producers allege that the “the decision was not related to animal health or public health as required under the legislative scheme, but rather that it was for political, social and public opinion or an otherwise improper purpose.”

The claims note that BC is the only province to have banned mink farming, whereas Nova Scotia proceeded with a vaccination program designed to protect both mink and humans.

In the case of BC, the province required vaccination of mink farm workers (something Henry now urges for those working with poultry in view of the ongoing avian influenza outbreak) but ignored suggestions that mink be vaccinated.

Instead, it banned mink farming altogether – something it had been lobbied to do for months by the BC SPCA and the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, including just three weeks before the ban was announced.

The claims by producers follow an industry action filed in February 2022 by the BC Mink Producers Association and Canada Mink Breeders Association challenging the province’s ban. That case is currently with the BC Court of Appeals and may eventually come before the Supreme Court of Canada.

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