Weather woes and road closures continue to plague BC farmers, who entered the new year facing disruptions due to snow and ice. Arctic inflows sent temperatures across BC plummeting to record lows at the end of December, just six months after the province shattered high temperature records. Growers in the Lower Mainland still reeling from …
BC Milk Marketing Board
Fraser Valley flooding continues
A thousand acres of blueberries remain underwater in the Fraser Valley, while more than 200 farms in the province continue to operate under evacuation orders or alerts as another series of weather systems tracks across southwestern BC. A statement from the BC Blueberry Council this week described the flooding as “an unprecedented event of great …
Catastrophic flooding hits Fraser Valley
The flood waters are receding but the toll of what the province has dubbed “the worst weather storm in a century” is rising, with Abbotsford pointing to heavy losses of livestock on Sumas Prairie. “I saw barns half-full of water,” Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said on Wednesday morning, following a flyover of the area on …
Cedar Valley licence reinstated
An investigation by the BC Milk Marketing Board of Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford has resulted in the reinstatement of the farm’s production licence with several conditions. The licence was suspended October 27 following allegations that workers at the farm had abused animals, claims supported by video footage provided to the BC SPCA and subsequently …
Cedar Valley footage released
Video footage that triggered an investigation of Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford two weeks ago has been released. Toronto-based activist group Animal Justice Canada posted the footage with a call for greater regulation of livestock operations, including the installation of surveillance cameras on farms. It notes that organic farms are no better than conventional systems …
Promotions help secure markets
The return of in-person meetings for many producer groups is also bringing a fresh emphasis on the future. This was particularly true for members of Mainland Milk Producers, who gathered for their fall meeting in Abbotsford, November 9, and listened to several presentations about the importance of securing markets as consumer behaviour continues to evolve …