The provincial election call last week has increased uncertainties for BC abattoir operators, who have seen demand for local meats surge versus last year as a result of COVID-19. An extension of the feedback window on a rural slaughter modernization intentions paper the province released a week before the election call makes sense to Nova …
NEWS
Beef producers welcome Ishoy
A veteran of Canada’s meat industry is embarking on a new venture this week. Mark Ishoy, the former president of Eastern Meat Solutions Inc. and the Sierra Group of Companies in Ontario, has been appointed to oversee the set up of the new BC Beef Producers Inc. project. The industry-led venture will buy cull cows …
Women farmers receive double
Farm Credit Canada’s Women Entrepreneur Program has delivered nearly twice as much support to female agri-food entrepreneurs than expected. During a virtual roundtable to address the challenges women agri-food entrepreneurs face, Marie-Claude Bibeau, in her capacity as the first-ever female minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced that 1,391 women across the country had received more …
Ranchers collaborate to preserve grasslands
OLIVER—Like a sliver of sky, a Western Bluebird drops from above and lands among the dried grasses at the edge of a meadow. Down the hill, sun glints off a small, round lake surrounded by forest down to the water’s edge, and a creek flows out through a low spot, fenced off from the grassy …
No peace, no order
“Peace, order and good government” may well be the words fundamental to Canada’s national character. We say “sorry” at the drop of a hat, devoutly anxious that we might somehow have disturbed the peace and order of our neighbours. Our laws and regulations define what we can and can’t do, especially in matters regarding freedom …
BC farmers need more than a landbank
A conversation I overheard recently in a schoolyard while waiting to pick up my granddaughter seems to sum up a big part of the dilemma facing the Agricultural Land Commission and the production it is expected to foster within the Agricultural Land Reserve. One 30-something parent was excitedly telling another about a rural property they …