The sky’s the limit as the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC keeps growing. A review of the organization’s performance at its annual general meeting, held online September 13, noted that $17.8 million was granted to 1,209 projects through 18 programs in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. “Many more programs are coming online in …
Investment Agriculture Foundation
Replant program revamped
The province announced a new replant program for perennial crops on April 30, ending weeks of speculation regarding the long-awaited initiative. Up to $15 million is being allocated for the new program, to be administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. It will have three streams, with funding disbursed on a first come, first …
Climate Change Adaptation Program winds down
The future of a dedicated program to help farmers adapt to a changing climate is unclear with the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC’s announcement that it will no longer deliver the long-running Climate Change Adaptation Program come April 1. The program was funded under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the five-year agricultural policy framework which ends …
TJ Schur to lead IAF
A new CEO has been hired to lead the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. TJ Schur will be the organization’s new CEO starting March 1, IAFBC announced February 3. She succeeds Michelle Koski, who left the organization at the end of January to become an assistant deputy minister in the BC Ministry of Agriculture and …
Farmland Advantage funding extended
A project that started as a small five-year pilot program in the Kootenays in 2016 has received renewed funding through March 2025 that expands it to the Thompson Okanagan region and beyond. The federal government, though Environment and Climate Change Canada has committed $455,000 under the Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL) and …
Ministry hires deputy ministers
Two new assistant deputy ministers are joining the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Michelle Koski is joining the province after five years as CEO of the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. “I am happy to share that I have accepted a position as assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food,” she …