Public schools across BC will receive funding for student lunches through a partnership between the BC Ministry of Education and the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food. An official announcement will be made shortly, but agriculture minister Lana Popham told the BC Greenhouse Growers Association’s annual reception November 12 that the funding will support stronger …
Lana Popham
Producers look beyond 2021’s floods
ABBOTSFORD – A year after successive atmospheric river events dropped between 200 and 300 mm of rain on southern BC, many producers are still in recovery mode. The deluge resulted in several feet of water on some farms, the evacuations of thousands of people and livestock, and the Lower Mainland being cut off from the …
Farm status requires proof
Two years after the province cut farmers some slack when it came to proving their qualification for farm class status with BC Assessment, proof is once again required. “We have currently returned to [the] standard practice of mailouts/income requests to property owners as per regulations to maintain/qualify for farm class for the 2023 roll,” BC Assessment …
Province funds market purchases
The province has stepped up with $12 million over three years in support of the 10-year-old BC Farmers Market Nutrition Coupon Program. The funding, announced by Health Minister Adrian Dix at the Kitsilano Farmers Market on June 5, will average $4 million a year. This is an increase from $2.25 million three years ago, and …
Province opens ALR to agritech development
ABBOTSFORD – Vertical farms will no longer have to seek permission from the Agricultural Land Commission to set up on protected farmland under a host of changes announced February 20. “We are making changes to support agritech and intensive crop production, like vertical farming, on the Agricultural Land Reserve,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham said …
ALR opened for agritech
Vertical farms that grow crops in stacked trays rather than fields will soon be able to set up in the Agricultural Land Reserve without having to seek permission from the province. “We are making changes to support agritech and intensive crop production, like vertical farming, on the Agricultural Land Reserve,” BC agriculture minister Lana Popham …