DUNCAN – A new initiative on Vancouver Island is bringing together small-scale and commercial beekeepers to breed bees that are better adapted to the local climate and pest pressures. Led by Iain Glass, a master bee breeder from North Vancouver, the project is selecting local hives that demonstrate specific traits to develop queens on the …
Foodlands Trust initiative moves forward
KELOWNA – FarmFolk/ CityFolk’s Foodlands Trust project has taken another significant step forward with the formal registration and approval of the Foodlands Co-operative of BC. “We have registered the trust as a co-operative,” says Heather Pritchard, who has led the initiative since its inception. “That means we have a legal structure and the co-op is …
Buggy season
ABBOTSFORD – 2017 has been “corn Armageddon” for local growers, says BC Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Tracy Hueppelsheuser. Hueppelsheuser spoke to growers during the Pacific Forage Bag corn variety trials field day at Rosegate Dairy Farm in Abbotsford, September 15. Because the field days are primarily promotional events seed dealers use to show off their …
Beet trials target “seed sovereignty”
VANCOUVER – Visitors to the UBC Farm market on July 22 received a taste of the latest selections in the BC Seed Trials, a province-wide program that hopes to lay the foundation for the production of seed suited to the province’s different growing regions. While the curiosity and qualms of many visitors were audible around …
Compensation sought for Clinton backburn debacle
CLINTON – A group of producers is seeking compensation and an apology for damages caused when the BC Wildfire Service lost control of a prescribed burn on Hart Ridge Mountain, south of Clinton. The blaze quickly escalated and jumped Highway 97, threatening nearby ranches and homes and triggering evacuations and highway closures. Greg Nyman speaks …
Corn rootworm infesting Fraser Valley crops
ABBOTSFORD – BC farmers have been spared from the damaging effects of corn rootworm. That is, until last year, when the beetles were first discovered in sweet corn in the Fraser Valley. BC Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Tracey Hueppelsheuser says damage from the pest can be substantial. Both the larvae and adult beetles cause damage. …