Presentations scheduled for January 12 will give the US International Trade Commission the material need to determine if US blueberry growers have suffered economic injury as a result of imports from Canada and other countries. A vote on whether or not injury has occurred is scheduled for February 11. The proceedings are being closely watched …
Farm property assessments increase
There are more farm properties worth more money in BC this year than there were two years ago. The tax roll unveiled this week by the BC Assessment Authority includes 52,073 farm properties with an assessed value of $1.29 billion as of the valuation date of July 1, 2020. This is up from approximately 51,000 …
Projects receive Site C funds
Nine projects received awards in December from the BC Hydro Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund. UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems received the largest award, $65,470, in support of research on crop disease and pathogens affecting cereal crops in the Peace region. “The project will fill gaps in existing disease surveys of cereal and forage …
New year, new era
BURNABY – A new administration in the US this month is raising hopes for fewer trade hassles in the months ahead. “I expect more predictability and more following the rules,” federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told farm media last month regarding the new US administration. She had previously announced that Canada would not make additional …
Let’s get real about mental wellness on the farm
Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the agriculture industry continues to demonstrate resilience and reliability. It’s on my 2021 agenda to continue to talk about this achievement publicly to continue to educate those outside agriculture, but I’m also marking the beginning of a new year celebrating the growing normalization of talking openly about mental …
Grower takes issue with groundwater limits
OLIVER – When Hans Buchler and his wife bought the land for their 18 acres of vineyard almost 40 years ago, one of the attractions was the water. “There is a good well on the property, which was important,” he says. “When I talked to the district of Oliver, they told me it would be …