SURREY – Three days of record-setting temperatures at the end of June made for sweat-soaked chores for many farmers, but cattle and poultry producers also faced the challenge of keeping their animals cool, too. Poultry producers were especially vulnerable, as birds don’t sweat, meaning they can’t cool down. Broiler producers in the Fraser Valley lost …
Poultry
Livestock producers count losses
Ranchers are on alert as more than 200 active wildfires burn across BC, many sparked following last week’s intense heat. “We are moving into an unprecedented situation with fires. It’s 2017 on steroids in terms of fire activity. It’s so dry out there,” says BC Cattlemen’s Association general manager Kevin Boon. Some ranchers have suffered …
Supply management crucial to BC
COVID-19 hit BC hatching egg producers hard as the disease roiled demand for broilers, forcing them to anticipate where demand might lie months in the future. While fully grown broilers can be processed and their meat frozen when demand shifts, hatching eggs can’t be shelved if they’re not wanted. Indeed, the BC Broiler Hatching Egg …
Poultry sector receives $86.8 million
The federal government released details April 13 of the compensation arrangement hammered out with the poultry sector for concessions granted as part of the CP-TPP free trade agreement with Pacific Rim nations. The package, worth $691 million nationally, includes up to $86.8 million for growers in BC. Payments will be made to producers over 10 …
Egg producer questions support for local eggs
DUNCAN – A Vancouver Island egg producer/grader wants the corporate egg business to give consumers more transparency and choice. A blog post on the Farmer Ben’s Eggs website in early December questioned the branding of some eggs sold on the island as being island-produced when, in fact, many of the eggs originate off-island and perhaps …
The spirit of giving
December is a month when giving is on people’s minds, and corporate generosity makes headlines. This year is no different, though the challenges the supply chain faced during the COVID-19 pandemic made giving the gift of good food an alternative to for-profit sales for many organizations. Good news sells in hard times, and farmers and …