Plan drafted for BX Ranchlands

The Regional District of North Okanagan has unveiled a five-year development plan for the BX Ranchlands that prioritizes small-scale agriculture, community education and environmental sustainability.

“To me it is an opportunity for local producers to participate in innovative farming education within the Interior of BC, as well as an opportunity for young farmers who often have difficulty securing farmland due to the price, a place to experiment with incubator farms,” says RDNO vice-chair and director of BX/Silverstar Amanda Shatzko. “It is a prime location between schools for youth to explore the local trails and get their hands dirty in community gardens.”

The regional district developed the plan over the past year in partnership Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems and the Land to Table Network of the North Okanagan (L2T) and local stakeholders.

The site encompasses 167 acres east of Vernon. The draft plan allocates 90 acres to farmland leases, 24 acres to habitat protection, 12 acres to a research and teaching farm, five acres to a community farm, two acres to a pollinator meadow, one acre to a community garden and 0.5 acre to a food forest.

The farmland leases will help provide farmers with reliable access to land, which will support local agriculture and strengthen regional food systems, the plan says. The plan also enables users to experiment “with climate-resistant crops so that we can help with future food sustainability and lowering greenhouse gases,” Shatzko adds.

A public consultation is now underway to allow the public to offer their feedback on the draft plan. The responses will underpin recommendations presented to Shatzko and fellow director Bob Fleming, who represents Area B, for final approval.

RDNO purchased the property in 2016. It initially created a recreational trail along the perimeter of the property. It then considered subdividing and selling the remaining land. But in 2021, after concerns of land protection and future use, RDNO electoral areas B and C took over sole ownership of the BX Ranchlands to keep the site available for the public.

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3 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.

The annual potato variety trial in Delta on August 27 attracted more than 300 people from across Canada, with Bill Zylmans of the BC Potato and Vegetable Growers Association declaring it a gathering of "the extended potato family." With the expansion of BCPVGA's mandate to a host of field vegetable growers, the field day was a chance to network, learn and understand issues across the vegetable sector. BC agriculture minister Lana Popham and Delta South MLA Ian Paton were on hand for the event at Lundstrum Farms on Westham Island, with both applauding efforts to restore bridge access to the island earlier this year to ensure production was unimpeded. Results of the trials will be published in the new year once seasonal data has been collated and analyzed.

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Lana Popham is the hardest working MLA in the province, I don’t agree with the NDP policies, however I do recognize a hard working MLA…thanks for what you do

SEPTEMBER 2026
Vol. 112 Issue 9

Plan drafted for BX Ranchlands

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