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JUNE 2025
Vol. 111 Issue 5

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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.

#BCAg
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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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Rail corridor approval delayed

| ISLAND CORRIDOR FOUNDATION PHOTO

March 15, 2023 byPeter Mitham

A day before the March 15 deadline the BC Court of Appeal set for a decision on the future of the Vancouver Island Rail Corridor (previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway), the province announced $18 million towards planning and a recognition of First Nations interests in the corridor.

“Any potential future use of the corridor, whether it involves rail restoration or not, must involve First Nations participation and perspectives,” BC transportation minister Rob Fleming said in a statement. “By the early 2030s, Vancouver Island will exceed one million residents and with that growth we need to consider the future value of the corridor for the movement of people and goods.”

But for Dennis Comeau of Top Shelf Feeds Inc. in Duncan, the island’s only feed mill, restoration can’t come too soon.

Top Shelf has spent millions on additional shipping costs since 2014, when it became reliant on Seaspan to deliver raw inputs by barge following the end of freight service on the rail line.

“Since 2014, we’ve spent over $3.5 million extra,” Comeau told Country Life in BC last fall. “Those costs have never been passed onto the end-user.”

Comeau had high hopes during the Seapspan strike last fall that a decision to restore rail service would come this spring, and is disappointed at a further delay.

“[I’m] disappointed that there’s not a full-on ‘let’s get this going and we’ll access the money and get this railway built’ because it has absolutely hurt our business and obviously our producers on the island not having this rail intact,” he says.

Transportation costs continue to keep the price of feed high on Vancouver Island, Comeau said. While the price of some grains has come down since last fall, freight and fuel costs have not. Top Shelf can only absorb the costs so long before it has to pass those costs onto producers.

Comeau says Top Shelf supplies 40% to 60% of the farms on Vancouver Island, primarily smaller operations, and some may not be able to handle a sudden increase in feed costs.

“They’re just going to pull the plug. It’s not worth it for them,” he says. “A lot of customers rely heavily on us, and they could not get that supply from the mainland on a regular basis.”

With the island’s population growing, and the province focused on food security, Comeau thinks there’s no time like the present to build local transportation capacity that supports local communities.

“If we don’t start now, I think we’re going to see a definite negative outcome in the next two years for producers pulling off the island,” he says.

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