Country Life in BC

Lake Country packing house sold

September 20, 2023

BC Tree Fruit Co-op has sold its Lake Country packing house as part of its…

Marketing board chooses new entrant finalists

September 13, 2023

ABBOTSFORD – The BC Milk Marketing Board has selected five producers to participate in this…

Ranchers get the backstory on public perception

September 13, 2023

VERNON – Ranchers might be concerned about how the public sees their industry, but a…

Moon shines among BC grape growers

September 13, 2023

PENTICTON — The BC Grapegrowers Association’s fifth annual Viticulturist of the Year award has gone…

SAWP points to reforms

September 13, 2023

Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) could point the way to reforming how foreign workers…

AI risk rises with fall

September 13, 2023

The detection of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza at a commercial poultry operation in the…

Cherry promotion promising

September 13, 2023

A renewed focus on domestic markets got off to a promising start this summer as…

Young ranch leaders selected

September 6, 2023

The latest finalists in the Canadian Cattle Association’s Young Leaders program were announced August 31,…

Corn rootworm hits Okanagan

September 6, 2023

A pest that infested Fraser Valley corn fields in 2017 has made an appearance in…

Westwold producers challenge curtailment

September 6, 2023

Westwold producers rallied September 2 to challenge an August 15 provincial ban on irrigation for…

Water curtailments squeeze forage production

August 30, 2023

KAMLOOPS – Deepening drought conditions prompted the province to ban irrigation of forage crops in…

Oat, wheat harvests down

August 30, 2023

Statistics Canada has relied on satellite technology and agroclimatic data to model preliminary crop yields…

Creston farmland sees demand

August 30, 2023

Strong commodity prices have been fuelling demand for farmland across Western Canada. The activity is…

International exports climb

August 30, 2023

Rising exports of BC agri-food products are set for a further boost with the launch…

Wildfires rip through Southern Interior

August 23, 2023

The impact of a dramatic turn in the provincial wildfire situation last week is still…

FARM NEWS UPDATE

March 25, 2026

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23 hours 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.

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Land Commission lays off staff

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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...

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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!

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.

1 week 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

Board finds overgrazing rules unenforceable unmeasurable

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...

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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?

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East Kootenay rancher Randy Reay is digging a new well after two natural water sources dried up on his Crown tenures. A new Living Lakes Canada assessment found 15% of mapped aquifers in the region are high-priority for monitoring, yet 80% of those go unmonitored. With over 48% of BC's provincial observation wells reporting below-normal groundwater levels, ranchers and researchers are sounding the alarm on water security. The story is in our March edition, and we've posted it to our website thi#BCAgk.

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Water woes: groundwater under pressure across BC

JAFFRAY – As a young boy growing up in the Kootenay-Boundary region, Randy Reay never expected to run out of water. But this year, in mid-February, his fields are bare. There is no snow halfway up t...

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Jaffrey is in the east Kootenays not kooteney boundary

2 weeks ago

BC farmers are bracing for prolonged higher input costs as war in the Middle East drives up fuel and fertilizer prices. Nitrogen fertilizer costs were already climbing before the Iran conflict began, with prices still roughly 60% above pre-pandemic levels. Farm Credit Canada warns that unlike 2022, strong commodity prices may not offset rising costs this time. Local suppliers expect supply challenges and further price increases ahead.

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Fertilizer prices on the rise

War in the Middle East has delivered a generational shock to energy prices, meaning BC farmers can expect a prolonged period of higher costs not just for fuel but also for fertilizer.

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