Pacific Agriculture Show kicks off

The Pacific Agriculture Show takes place this week at the Tradex in Abbotsford alongside the Lower Mainland Horticultural Conference, January 25-27.

Strong attendance is expected at the three-day event, which saw a strong turnout last year on par with pre-pandemic levels at between 5,000 and 6,000 people.

This year, a sold-out tradeshow floor will greet participants in the annual horticultural conference as well as members of the public who come to see the latest developments in local agriculture.

This year’s program, developed by the Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association in partnership with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food, will closely parallel that of previous years.

Introductory remarks from the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food on January 25 will be followed by an opening plenary session with keynote speaker and executive coach Kelly Dobson, leader of a fourth-generation farm in Fairfax, Manitoba, who will discuss the “partnership of personalities” that make a farm successful.

Those partnerships are critical in the face of extreme weather, which will be discussed in the following presentation.

Sessions on strawberries, raspberries, field vegetables and potatoes will round out the first day’s offerings.

Agritech and innovation kick off the second day, which will also include an all-berry stream, a focus on hazelnuts as well as streams devoted to floriculture and greenhouse production.

Blueberries, organics and hops are the focus on the third day.

Special events during the show include the BC Dairy lunch and learn on January 25 and the Ag Innovation Forum, which takes place January 26.

A new feature this year will be Farmers Den, a pitch competition for agribusiness organized by the Abbotsford Tech District. The event will feature two pitch categories, one for Seedlings, students or recent graduates launching or hoping to launch companies who will compete for a $10,000 prize, and Agripreneurs, entrepreneurs with established agricultural or agri-tech companies who will compete for a $50,000 prize.

There’s something for everyone, and everyone is invited to check out Country Life in BC, whose team will be on hand throughout the show.

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2 weeks ago

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The Jura Ranch near Princeton sold for nearly $5.3 million on May 12, the largest online ranch sale in BC in months, according to CLHBid.com, which handled the sale. The buyer was not named. Formerly owned by Rob and Kelly Lamoureux, which developed the successful Jura Grassfed brand, the ranch includes 2,625 deeded acres and a grazing licence totalling 83,698 acres. Originally offered at $4.2 million, the competitive bidding process delivered a higher value than the current market would suggest. Farm Credit Canada’s latest farmland value survey pointed to 1.7% decline in BC last year, which observers have attributed to tight margins and uncertainties related to Crown tenure.

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I sure hope it remains as farm land rather than a wind or solar installation.

Great grassland

yeah, who bought it? where are the checks and balances that ensure a ranch can continue being a ranch?

Uncertainty about crown land, aka native land grabs and unceded land claims being tossed around like it wasn't meant to destabilize the country?

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Foreign land buyers hollow out Dunster

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DUNSTER – Purchases of swathes of farmland in the Robson Valley by wealthy American businessmen have some in BC demanding restrictions on foreign and corporate ownership of agricultural land.

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This is a serious issue in Dunster and one that has impacts for wildlife and human neighbours.

Representatives from Quail's Gate Winery Estate Winery in West Kelowna were panellists during the Okanagan Cultivates event held at Okanagan College's Kelowna campus on May 7. The college has been hosting events like this to help elevate conversations in the community about what's grown locally and its impact on the region's food, wine and tourism industry. The Quail's Gate panel, which included Ben Stewart, discussed the long history of grape growing and winemaking in front of a large crowd who came to listen, learn and taste products from a number of local wineries and restaurants. A new $48.8M food, wine and tourism centre is now under construction at the college to open in fall 2027. The building will have modern food labs, a student-led restaurant and café and specialized training spaces for culinary, viticultu#BCAgd tourism studies.

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