Strengthening and expanding rural Internet access is a key objective of the federal government, which recently launched a rural broadband fund to support development and connectivity. But sometimes, farmers need to take matters into their own hands, said Jesse Hirsh, who has added to his experience in the tech sector by becoming a small-scale grower …
NEWS
The spirit of giving
December is a month when giving is on people’s minds, and corporate generosity makes headlines. This year is no different, though the challenges the supply chain faced during the COVID-19 pandemic made giving the gift of good food an alternative to for-profit sales for many organizations. Good news sells in hard times, and farmers and …
Vegetable growers lose key product
Lower Mainland vegetable growers will face a tougher time controlling key pests come 2023 as a result of the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s cancellation of the registration for chlorpyrifos, a non-systemic organphosphate critical to the control of wireworm and other pests in BC. Re-evaluation of the chemical, the active agent in formulations of Lorsban …
ACARN hosts largest-ever workshop
The BC Agricultural Climate Adaptation Research Network (BC ACARN) annual workshop December 7-9 was the network’s largest-ever workshop to date. The fully virtual event attracted 338 attendees. The majority were from BC, but attendees also joined in from Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories as well as the US and Europe. The provincial network …
Dairy raises US ire
Canada’s dairy sector had the honour last week of triggering the first US enforcement action under CUSMA, the country’s new free trade deal with the US and Mexico that took effect July 1. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer says Canada’s reservation of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) specifically for dairy processors prevents the US dairy sector from …
New food hub planned for Salmon Arm
SALMON ARM – A food hub in Salmon Arm will provide much-needed processing opportunities to producers in the Shuswap-Okanagan. In mid-September, the BC Ministry of Agriculture announced $500,000 toward the creation of a food hub in the community. “The province’s processing sector is seeing success all over BC and we are supporting farmers and food …