A meeting of federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers in Ottawa this week addressed several issues of concern to BC producers. BC agriculture minister Lana Popham told Country Life in BC before she left that she would be discussing assistance for farmers in the Peace hit hard by adverse conditions this fall. The assistance would …
NEWS
Overwhelming support for piece rates
A study of BC piece rates the BC Ministry of Labour commissioned in September 2018 has shown broad support for the existing system. Published this week, the study found 90% of growers support the existing system whereby government sets rates for workers who pick fruit and vegetables. Workers in the Thompson-Okanagan region expressed 94% satisfaction …
Food costs set to rise
The tenth annual survey of food prices in Canada, released last week by the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, show a steady increase in groceries and take-out meals. The annual report forecasts a 2% to 4% increase in total food costs in 2020, on top of a 3.7% increase in 2019. The biggest increase …
Agritech faces mixed attitudes
A farmer is one the most trusted people in the public mind, according to countless surveys, but that doesn’t mean the public trusts what they’re actually doing. This uncomfortable fact was driven home in two recent studies assessing public attitudes to agriculture in Canada and the U.S. The first, released last month by the Canadian …
Farmers’ institutes briefed on ALR
Representatives from 35 farmers’ institutes gathered in Richmond on November 29 at a meeting convened by the BC Ministry of Agriculture to discuss priorities and receive updates on ministry initiatives designed to support farming. Ongoing changes to the Agricultural Land Commission and regulations governing activities in the Agricultural Land Reserve were a particular focus. Several …
Icewine harvest begins
BC’s icewine harvest kicked off in the wee hours of November 28 as temperatures in the Okanagan dropped below -8 degrees Celsius, the threshold required by law for harvesting and crushing frozen grapes for one of Canada’s signature agricultural products. Quails’ Gate Estate Winery of West Kelowna was one of 20 wineries that registered with …