• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Country Life In BC Logo

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915

  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Headlines
  • Calendar
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Search

Primary Sidebar

Current Issue:

MARCH 2026
Vol. 112 Issue 3

Subscribe Now!

Sign up for free weekly FARM NEWS UPDATES

Loading form…

Your information will not be
shared or sold ever

Follow us on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

4 hours ago

TJ and Olivia McWilliam had no farming background when they launched Vive le Veg Farm on a quarter acre in Ladner in 2021. Four years later, they're farming two acres, supplying Vancouver's top restaurants and paying TJ a $60,000 salary. Their story is a masterclass in starting small, tracking numbers and building relationships. Read more#BCAg..

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Restaurant connections fuel farm’s growth

www.countrylifeinbc.com

LADNER – Growth is on the agenda for Ladner’s Vive le Veg Farm, where owners TJ and Olivia McWilliam have a new baby and have nearly doubled the size of their market garden to two acres.
View Comments
  • Likes: 2
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

1 day ago

... See MoreSee Less

View Comments
  • Likes: 5
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

5 days ago

It takes a village! The Small Scale Meat Producers Association welcomed provincial and community leaders and stakeholders to an open house at the North Okanagan Butcher Hub in Spallumcheen earlier today. The butcher hub opened for business last September to provide local, small-scale meat producers a dedicated cut-and-wrap facility and access to a mobile butcher trailer to get their products to market. The first of its kind in BC, it addresses a critical gap in the provincial meat supply chain and is designed as a reproducible model for rural communities across the province. The project is a partnership between the Small Scale Meat Producers Association, the provincial government, the Township of Spallumcheen, the Regional District of the North Okanagan and the Agricultural Land Commission.

@Small-Scale Meat Producers Association
#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

It takes a village! The Small Scale Meat Producers Association welcomed provincial and community leaders and stakeholders to an open house at the North Okanagan Butcher Hub in Spallumcheen earlier today. The butcher hub opened for business last September to provide local, small-scale meat producers a dedicated cut-and-wrap facility and access to a mobile butcher trailer to get their products to market. The first of its kind in BC, it addresses a critical gap in the provincial meat supply chain and is designed as a reproducible model for rural communities across the province. The project is a partnership between the Small Scale Meat Producers Association, the provincial government, the Township of Spallumcheen, the Regional District of the North Okanagan and the Agricultural Land Commission. 

@Small-Scale Meat Producers Association 
#BCAg
View Comments
  • Likes: 35
  • Shares: 7
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

6 days ago

The Agricultural Land Commission is laying off staff after years of flat funding under the BC NDP. ALC chair Jennifer Dyson warns that application volumes, enforcement activity and legal obligations have all risen while its operating budget has stayed effectively flat — meaning longer wait times ahead for some services.

#BCAg
... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Land Commission lays off staff

www.countrylifeinbc.com

With no budget increase this year, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) is laying off six staff to make ends meet. “Ongoing financial constraints and the requirement to operate within the approved...
View Comments
  • Likes: 3
  • Shares: 6
  • Comments: 5

Comment on Facebook

Not quite on the subject but.. could you please share how the requirements have changed for changing Ag land to development land? Honest respectful question. I see a bunch of ag land being developed and I was wondering what or how it has changed

Dyson makes $725 a day!

Cut that government bloat!

Biggest problem , people doing what they don't know how to do it . Hire farmers . Dykes and drainage commission should also be maintained and managed by farmers . These city folk should all be kicked to the curb

We need to just abolish the ALC, it is a useless bureaucratic entity.

View more comments

2 weeks ago

A BC Forest Practices Board investigation has found overgrazing has damaged grasslands in the Coutlee Range Unit near Merritt — and the range-use plan meant to prevent it was unenforceable. With complaints about overgrazing on the rise and grasslands covering just 1% of BC's land mass, the findings raise fresh questions about how the province manages one of its most vulnerable — and valuable — food-producing ecosyste#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

Link thumbnail

Board finds overgrazing rules unenforceable unmeasurable

www.countrylifeinbc.com

MERRITT – A BC Forest Practices Board investigation has found instances of non-compliance related to overgrazing have damaged open grasslands in the Mine pasture, part of the Coutlee Range Unit near...
View Comments
  • Likes: 6
  • Shares: 6
  • Comments: 6

Comment on Facebook

Several ranchers in recent years have gone into temporary non use on that range , so that means the grass should grow. But drought conditions/lack of rain and snow don’t allow that to happen . Dried up springs , creeks waterholes in various pastures add to over grazing where there is water , as livestock and everything else stay close to the water source . So even though less cattle are on it , over grazing appears. There is a large volume of horses on it 365 days/year which is wrong ! They pull grass right out of the ground when it’s just trying to grow ,, opens the door for weeds to grow in. That don’t help it. Aging infrastructure ( fences) laying on the ground, pipe line building , ( lack of commitment to fence maintenance) amongst all users contributes also to over grazing. Recreational atv users leaving gates open between pastures allows livestock to go back or ahead in pastures also expidites over grazing. Logging ( bcts) has no problem laying out cut locks on both sides of a fence , then it gets smashed down during logging and they don’t take responsibility to stand it back up or clean the cattle gaurds out when they are done , that happened 4 years ago on pasture 5 up there . I bet it is still not fixed . There are lots of contributing factors to the problem.

Tragedy of the commons.

I looked through the report. I saw nothing about the effects of noxious weeds on productive grasslands. This particular area is vulnerable because of the Ministry’a efforts to diversify the use of the Grasslands.

This pasture is under tremendous pressure not only from cattle but from irresponsible local residents who treat it as a landfill dumping all manner of household debris here. And don't even get me started on the mud bogging and camping in sensitive riparian areas. The feral horses are in this pasture 365 days a year just hammering it. Would sure be nice to see some enforcement action on people who are intentionally ripping up the grasslands and riparian areas. Cattle could be a valuable resource for rebuilding soils and native grasses in this area with the help of electric fencing and/or e-collars. The humans will be harder to manage.

The Forest and Range Practices Act was written by lawyers for global forest licencee shareholders. Results-based = unenforceable.

Also, can we talk about the impact of a pipeline being built through the middle of this field for multiple years?

View more comments

Subscribe | Advertise

The agricultural news source in British Columbia since 1915
  • Email
  • Facebook

New leadership at AgSafe BC

Cameron Stockdale is the new executive director of provincial farm safety organization AgSafeBC. Photo | AgSafeBC.ca

March 11, 2026 byPeter Mitham

Cameron Stockdale is the new executive director of provincial farm safety organization AgSafeBC, succeeding Wendy Bennett.

Bennett left AgSafeBC in September 2025, following 12 years with the association, most recently as executive director. AgSafe posted an ad for a general manager in December, with applications due by January 16.

Stockdale took the helm of the organization this month, just in time for Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, March 15-21.

Stockdale has 25 years of hands-on experience in emergency services, including senior operational leadership within BC’s ambulance system, which helps him to guide positive change within organizations.

He previously served as president and CEO of the Vancouver-based Work Wellness Institute. He brings a strong belief to AgSafeBC that safety, wellness, and organizational effectiveness are fundamentally interconnected.

Westwold beef producer Andrea van Iterson was also recently elected chair of AgSafeBC, succeeding Hugo Velázquez Vázquez.

The leadership changes come as newly unionized AgSafeBC staff embark on collective bargaining with the association. The BC Labour Relations Board approved a certification bid on February 11 that will see office staff and field advisors in the Lower Mainland represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 403.

The union declined comment on the impetus for certification.

“CUPE and the local will not be commenting further until the unit reaches a first collective agreement,” says CUPE spokesperson Greg Taylor.

Story updated March 11, 445 pm.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Confined spaces in spotlight

Farmers need to prioritize mental wellness

Province seeks dangerous jobs

Tractor training highlights safety

Don Dahr

Farm injury rate falls

Previous Post: « Pacific Time decision creates issues
Next Post: Fertilizer prices on the rise »

Copyright © 2026 Country Life in BC · All Rights Reserved