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Originally published:

AUGUST 2022
Vol. 108 Issue 8

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Stories In This Edition

Summer labour issues ease

Broad shoulders

Abuse charges recommended

Huge tract of Creston farmland seeks buyers

Editorial: Doctor’s orders

Back 40: Remembering a revoluntionary in food security

Viewpoint: The case for provincial meat inspection

Province urged to intervene as scorch claims rise

Ranchers seek answers on BC Beef brand, dams

Ag Briefs: Province funds extreme weather preparedness

Ag Briefs: Okanagan wine appellations expand

Ag Briefs: ALC rejects Teacup appeal

FIRB pushes back on complaints about BC Veg

Hay there

Get sustainable to get funding, ag ministers say

Weather heightens wildfire risk in the Peace

Islands Ag Show recharges farmers’ knowledge base

Ranchers need support for range use compliance

Low volume, high quality in cool season

Industry working through tree fruit recommendations

Life is better with cherries

Orchard sector pilots new job-matching website

Province funds eight new weather stations

Weather delays strawberry harvest

Foreign worker protections undergo overhaul

Tea Creek is training ground for new farmers

Innovative manure applicator could be a game-changer

Farm Story: Perfecting other skills while potatoes grow

Cover crops gain ground as growers build soil health

Buckwheat proving an ally in the wireworm fight

Sidebar: Know thy pest

Fossens recognized for innovative practices

Bottom lines improve when customers eat fresh

KPU seed lab accelerates seed producers

Sidebar: Growing local

Woodshed: Delta Faye comes to Kenneth’s rescue

After a two-year hiatus, fall fairs return to BC

August offers a rainbow of produce

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2 days ago

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

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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3 days 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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1 month 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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1 month 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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1 month 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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Orchard sector pilots new job-matching website

Growers hope the platform will keep workers longer

An app used to connect workers in BC’s film industry has been tweaked to help BC fruit growers connect with new workers this season. MYRNA STARK LEADER

August 10, 2022 byTom Walker

KELOWNA – Fruit growers who employ temporary workers each summer may find a phone app being trialed this season will help  fill the gap left by the retirement of long-time BC Fruit Growers Association liaison Ron Forrest.

“Over the last 15 years, Ron and other BCFGA team members have welcomed, provided safety and orientation training, and directed travelling backpackers to jobs on Okanagan farms,” says BCFGA general manager Glen Lucas. “As a result of Ron’s retirement and new direction at the Tree Fruit Industry Stabilization Plan, the BCFGA is no longer conducting the summer farm labour initiative.”

Those will be big shoes to fill.

“I’m not sure people were really aware of all the work that Ron did on behalf of growers in the valley,” says Tyrion Miskell, executive director of the BC Grape Growers Association.

Besides English, Forrest was fluent in French and Spanish and could get by in another couple of languages. His years of experience and easy-going manner allowed him to recruit and connect with temporary workers both from within Canada and internationally.

He also had a track record with growers, who knew he could provide workers, teach them safety and picking skills and step in if there was a problem.

Miskell is leading a cross-industry labour committee, a recommendation of the province’s tree fruit stabilization committee report last summer.

“It doesn’t matter what you grow, we all need farm labour,” Miskell says.

Representatives of the BC Grape Growers, BC Cherry Association, BCFGA, BC Tree Fruits Co-op and the province have been meeting to come up with strategies.

One of the committee’s goals is to change the image of temporary labour.

“We want to move away from the terms ‘Quebecois’ or ‘backpackers,’ says Miskell. She believes there is a certain stigma there that, in part, has discouraged locals from taking farm jobs.

“We are trying to rebrand the industry with a positive spin,” Miskell says. “We are advertising for ‘branch hands’ using positive hashtags like #sweetlife, #branchhands and #plumjobs.”

Temporary employees make a valuable contribution to the fruit industry, Miskell notes.

“On-farm jobs can allow for adventure, flexibility and meaningful work. We hope that locals who are looking for a bit of extra money will consider on-farm jobs.”

But they needed a platform, something BC Cherry president Sukhpaul Bal pointed out at one of the committee’s early meetings.

“We needed a kind of dating app where workers and employers could connect and organize meeting for

on-farm work,” says Miskell. “We found CrewDriver, which is a platform designed in Vancouver that connects employers and workers in the film industry, an industry that relies heavily on a gig economy of temporary workers.”

The committee is running a pilot this summer via BCFruitWorks.com, which lets employers register for direct, easy connections with potential employees.

“This is a pretty low-tech system that works off your phone,” explains Miskell. “We want to be able to connect growers in their orchards with workers who may be camping.”

Miskell says the app also allows growers to message workers, telling them not to come if it’s raining, for example.

“You don’t need the Internet to run it, and you won’t be making phone calls all day to organize help,” she says.

Many growers have their own relationship with returning workers, Miskell acknowledges. “But we encourage them to sign up as well,” she says. “Not only will they be able to source a temporary replacement for a sick worker, but we may be able to keep their workers in the valley longer and have them go on to help at other farms.”

An HR kit is also in the works.

“We are offering supports to employers to be more creative in advertising their jobs,” Miskell says. “You have to sell what you offer. You are competing with other growers and other industries in the valley.”

Growers interested in participating in the pilot project can send an email to [info@bcfruitworks.com] with “INTERESTED” in the subject line to receive set-up information.

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