The new year will see more than 500 agriculture utility customers in the South East Kelowna Irrigation District incorporated within Kelowna’s domestic water system. The shift will change how growers pay for irrigation water. “The agriculture water rate structure being proposed is a blend of a fixed-fee and escalating tiers that would be predictable and …
Farmers partner with chefs
Registrations topped 430 for the second edition of the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s networking and marketing event, “Every Chef Needs a Farmer, Every Farmer Needs a Chef.” Attendance was up by half from last year, necessitating a move to the PNE Forum where more than 55 exhibitors from major commodity groups including the BC Dairy …
Okanagan land-matches top 12
A half-day land-matching workshop in Kelowna on November 2 attracted nearly 40 people. The event was organized by Young Agrarians as part of a provincially funded program to match landowners with land-seekers. The crowd included young people looking for land to start farming, a young couple looking to transition out of their start-up farm, and …
Waste management webinar
The BC Cattlemen’s Association has followed up its six-part “Coffee Shop Talks” webinar series with a fall webinar on the new Agricultural Environmental Management Code of Practice (AEM Code). The webinar gives ranchers an opportunity to get up to speed on their responsibilities under the new code, which took effect February 28. “We had a …
Housing tops concerns in Cranbrook
The province’s consultation on supporting farming in the Agricultural Land Reserve continued in Cranbrook on November 5, where 62 residents turned out to say the current system isn’t working for them. “It’s important that you start listening,” said Randy Reay, a rancher from Jaffray and land use chair with the Kootenay Livestock Association. The province …
Province funds food innovation
Anubhav Singh is BC’s first professor of food and beverage innovation. Singh will oversee the food and beverage innovation centre planned for UBC, which will receive $2.6 million from the province over three years. The funding will be the basis for an endowment fund to support the centre’s establishment and Singh’s position. BC agriculture minister …