September has amped up the wildfire risk in many parts of BC as hot, dry weather gives summer an extended finish. While the conditions are good news for forage corn producers, property owners in Hudson’s Hope are on evacuation alert as a result of the Battleship Mountain fire which ranks as the largest fire in …
Rate hike demands planning
The latest rate hike by the Bank of Canada is putting the onus on farmers to plan further ahead to stay on top of the financial impacts. The central bank’s policy rate increased a further 75 basis points on September 7 to 3.25%, or 13 times the rate on March 1. It’s the fifth consecutive …
Cool weather improves wildfire response
PENTICTON – Wildfires in the area between the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys have shaped up as the biggest direct threat to BC ranchers this summer, with many still on edge after last year’s intense, wind-driven fires with lengthy perimeters. The Keremeos Creek wildfire 21 kilometres southwest of Penticton, the largest blaze in the province outside …
Cattleliner loss mourned
Country Life in BC joins Western Canada’s dairy community as it mourns the loss of three young men and nearly two dozen animals in a head-on collision Sunday. Brandon Johnson and Tanner Liefting were hauling Team BC heifers back from the Western Canadian Classic junior dairy competition in Brandon, Manitoba when their rig collided near …
Disaster relief deadline passes
Fresh landslides in the Nicola Valley last week underscored the ongoing impacts of last year’s extreme weather as the deadline for applications to the federal-provincial AgriRecovery program unveiled in response to last November’s catastrophic mudslides and flooding approached. But just a fraction of the $228 million allocated to the 2021 Flood Recovery Program for Food …
Regional processing supported
Processing capacity is essential to local food security, bringing local production across the finish line onto the plates of consumers. While the province’s agriculture ministry has invested in a food hub network, smaller initiatives are also afoot to support the crop and livestock producers. On August 23, Hornby Island Farmland Trust Society was awarded a …