RegenBC conference emphasizes context

Regenerative agriculture means working with nature not against it, but how technology fits into the picture is another question.

An average of 200 people participated in this first two nights of the RegenBC conference the province hosted this week. The event is the first public initiative as part of the Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech Network the province aims to develop.

Welcoming participants, BC Agriculture minister Lana Popham said technology can complement and advance what farmers are already doing to make agriculture more sustainable and a positive contributor to the environment.

But as she discovered, much depends on who’s wielding the technology.

During her opening remarks, activists disrupted the proceedings with digital graffiti calling for an end to fur farming. The activists gained control despite the conference being password protected.

Organizers disabled the chat function for the remainder of the event, preventing live question periods and conversations among participants.

The disruption was contrary to the positive spirit most participants displayed.

“We’ve got a big job and we all need to be pulling in the same direction,” said Organic BC co-president Heather Stretch in her opening remarks on the second night.

To get there, Tristan Banwell of Spray Creek Ranch in Lillooet said farmers need to get talking to one another and find out what’s working and how those practices can be adapted and applied on their own farms.

Heather Meberg of E.S. Cropconsult, which helps growers practice integrated pest management on more than 10,000 acres in the Lower Mainland, agreed.

“If [farmers] can see and touch it, and see that it makes sense, they’re going to adapt it,” she said of new practices and technology.

With success of growers like Spray Creek, Wild Flight Farm in Mara and Covert Farms in Oliver, local growers have several models.

The third night of the conference will present others, including keynote speaker Jeff Lee of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries in the Kootenays discussing how technology can play a role.

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14 hours ago

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20 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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5 days ago

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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6 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.