Pacific Agriculture Show kicks off

The first all-digital edition of the Pacific Agriculture Show kicks off Thursday morning, treating participants to the direction of future trade shows and conferences.

This winter’s industry events have been transformed as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which continue to limit in-person gatherings and events. Organizations have embraced a variety of conferencing platforms, often incorporating familiar elements such as Zoom videoconferencing and profile pages for attendees not unlike social networking platforms.

Organizers of the Pacific Agriculture Show chose Pheedloop, a made-in-Canada platform to host this year’s event. A tested platform, it will allow participants to interact and engage with each other, and ensure access to show content for up to a year.

Preregistrations have exceeded 500, and visitors to the show will have more than 140 virtual booths to explore, including equipment dealers, government agencies and, of course, Country Life in BC.

While there will be no pressing of the flesh, Shepard hopes visitors will consider it a one-stop networking spot during and between the presentations making up the growers’ short course organized by the Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association.

“This year’s show is definitely going to be different but the response from the entire ag community has been really supportive,” he says. “It’s shaping up to be great venue to stay in touch until life gets back to normal!”

In addition to the regular short-course sessions covering berries, vegetables, floriculture and hazelnuts, several sessions will be free to all trade show attendees. These include agricultural water management on Thursday, and farm business management and agri-innovation on Friday.

Co-organizer of this year’s event is the BC Agriculture Council, which will host its annual BC Agri-Food Industry Gala on Thursday evening. The hour-long event begins at 5:30pm and features keynote speaker and nationally recognized personality Rex Murphy.

Registration for all events other than the short course is free, but participants must sign up. To register, visit [https://pheedloop.com/register/agricultureshow/attendee/] (access code: pas2021).

To register for the short course, visit [https://www.agricultureshow.net/horticultural-growers-short-course/].

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2 hours ago

It was another sell-out at the 31st annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival on Saturday with organizers selling 5,000 pounds of locally-grown, fresh berries in less than five hours. Youth from the Fort Langley Lions Club's Young Lions program scooped, bagged and weighed several pallets' worth of cranberries. Ocean Spray donated the berries, which the public bought to benefit the community. Local grower The Bog was also selling fresh berries, having brought 2,700 pounds, which were on track to sell out by the end of the#BCAgt.

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5 days ago

There was a lot of reminiscing and appreciation of how far BC's turkey industry has come at a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the BC Turkey Association and the 60th anniversary of the BC Turkey Marketing Board yesterday in Abbotsford. With a slideshow of events and people over the years, guests laughed and had a lot to be thankful for. "It's an opportunity to celebrate the industry at a time of year that's known for turkey. It's a culmination of all the year's work," says Natalie Veles, executive director with BC Turkey Marketing Board.

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Love it - Deb Etsell I see you 🤩

6 days ago

BC was the sole province to see farmland values decline in the first half of this year, dropping 1.9% according to a Farm Credit Canada report released Octover 7. This represented an acceleration in value declines from last year, and contributed to a 3.9% decline in the 12 montsh ended June 30. The drop follows on a 1.7% decline last year, which Farm Credit Canada attributed to tougher times in the fruit sector. However, the mid-year report points to a broader slowdown in value growth diven by higher production costs, tighter margins and uncertainty around trade, tariffs and international markets.

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Ndp

3 weeks ago

Channels of communication remain open between the provincial and federal governments with respect to financial relief for extraordinary costs stemming from this summer's ongoing drought and wildfires, but the BC Cattlemen's Association is urging producers to register for AgriStability to position themselves for any AgriRecovery package. "Hardworking families in the ranching and agriculture sectors, who provide food for the province, need the AgriRecovery program in place as soon as possible," says BC Cattlemen's president Alex Kuchar. But the provincial election creates an unfortunate delay. "It's not fair, in any form of the word, to see all those people who have lost so much in the fires to have to wait in limbo," says BC Cattlemen's general manager Kevin Boon.

Photo | Barb Edmonson / Firefly Ranch, Clinton

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Feedback on changes to rules governing food processing in the Agricultural Land Reserve has drawn about 250 submissions. But the proposal now hangs in the balance with Premier David Eby's decision to call a snap election, which also delays discussions of assistance for farmers hit hard by this year's wildfires and historic #BCAght.

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What would you expect from the NDP, when they still had a 2 year mandate?

Ridiculous timing. We have people needing answers and have to plan for winter supplies. Fires are long past, months have gone by knowing there was going to be the need for support. Drought was written on the wall even before summer began with no snow pack. This is not new to government and they are calling for another year just as bad for 2027. I throw my hands up and wonder what else needs to be more challenging than what we've experienced over the last 6 years in BC?

250 submissions.... I'm pretty sure there are more than 250 farmers in BC