A new $70.5 million replant program was announced March 13 at the BC Wine Insight conference in Penticton by Premier David Eby and BC Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis. The program will see about $65 million disbursed to farmers net of IAF administrative expenses, with $18 million for berries, $23 million for grapes and …
NEWS
Drought preparations spring ahead
The BC government has started preparing for potential drought and wildfire this summer with the formal announcement of $83 million in agricultural water infrastructure, such as sloughs and water systems. The funding tops up the initial funding announced in 2023 to $113 million, and supports a three-year initiative to improve the resilience of farms and …
Spring freshet risk low
The province’s latest Snow Survey and Water Supply bulletin has some good news on the flooding front, and not-so-good news on the drought front. With the provincial snowpack averaging 66% of normal, there is little chance of spring flooding this year. “Due to the low snow conditions, below normal spring freshet flood hazard is expected …
BC farmland values fall
BC farmland values fell 3.1% last year, Farm Credit Canada reported this week, the first annual decline since 2010 and the most significant drop since 1998. The drop was led by the South Coast, where values fell 19.3% to average $112,200 an acre. This was more than four times the decline reported for the Okanagan, …
Spray Creek wins BC OYF
Aubyn and Tristan Banwell of Spray Creek Ranch near Lillooet were named BC & Yukon Outstanding Young Farmers at the Clarion Hotel in Abbotsford, March 12. “They believe in the power of regenerative agriculture to change the world, the power of food to connect people, and the power of consumers to change how farms are …
Confined spaces in spotlight
This week marks Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, an annual reminder from the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, that every agricultural sector and operation has unique hazards. Confined spaces are one example. “Of all the different hazards that are present in agriculture, I think confined space presents the highest risk to loss of life,” says AgSafe BC …