PORT ALBERNI – How is it that a tiny island in Washington state has the first farmer-run community food safety lab in the US, satisfying the rigid requirements of the US Department of Agriculture and the US Food Safety Modernization Act? Part of the San Juan Islands, an archipelago just south of BC’s own Gulf …
Rising from the ashes
KAMLOOPS – With a record wildfire season continuing to burn its way across the province, producers in affected areas are starting to take stock of the damage and plotting a path forward. “There’s still a lot in the mix,” says Kevin Boon, executive director of the BC Cattlemen’s Association. “We can’t begin to get out …
Alfalfa winterkill puts chill on Nechako Valley
VANDERHOOF – A wet fall and a lack of snow cover has resulted in winterkill of more than 20,000 acres of alfalfa in the Nechako Valley. The issue became apparent to forage growers this spring when the alfalfa simply failed to appear. Acreage that the year prior had produced three to four tonnes per acre …
Island farmers grapple with armyworm infestation
PORT ALBERNI – A voracious new pest is marching its way through Vancouver Island forage crops. “I first saw them in early June when a neighbour came by with a jar full of them and said they wrecked his second cut,” says Bob Collins, a Port Alberni beef farmer and well-known contributor to Country Life …
Ranchers first line of defense against wildfires
WILLIAMS LAKE – On July 6, Cheryl Monical and her husband Ed noticed smoke over the hill while moving cattle at their ranch near 105 Mile House. Twenty-four hours later, they were fighting a wildfire 200 feet from their doorstep. “At the time the fire was coming at us, the police showed up and told …
Wildfires put hundreds of ranchers at risk
WILLIAMS LAKE – An unprecedented spate of wildfires that erupted across the central Interior in early July has put ranchers throughout BC on tenterhooks, wondering what the remainder of the summer will bring. Dry lightning west of Williams Lake sparked more than 140 wildfires on July 7 alone, faster than the BC Wildfire Service could …