METCHOSIN – Over 20 South Vancouver Island producers attended the livestock drought management field day held at Brass Bell Farm in East Sooke and Parry Bay Farm in Metchosin on September 12. The sessions were facilitated by North Okanagan farmers and professional agrologists Greg Tegart and Mike Witt. The day started at Brass Bell Farm …
NEWS
Bird flu returns
Three farms in Abbotsford and Chilliwack have been hit with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. The affected farms include turkey, broiler, and egg operations. The detections occurred on October 21 and are the first in the province since December 25, 2023. “The response is currently active and we are working with partner agencies and the …
Raw milk hopes soured
A challenge to the province’s raw milk rules has been creamed by a BC Supreme Court decision delivered September 11 and published this week. The matter traces its roots to 2005, and Gordon Watson’s challenge of BC’s policy against raw milk sales. The policy is common across Canada, the only G7 nation that prohibits the …
Slash smoke challenge planned
Smoke from slash piles is in the crosshairs of a northern BC resident, who says improvements in how slash burning is managed haven’t erased the issues it poses. “We’ve been trying to address the slash smoke problem here in the Bulkley-Nechako region for 15 years or more,” says Ray Chipeniuk, a Smithers resident who has …
Country Life in BC reporting honoured
Country Life in BC was recognized at the annual Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards for excellence in agricultural communications in Halifax on October 5. The paper took top honours in two categories, Production Photography and People Feature. Photographer Kari Lynn Turner won gold for Roll Call, a photo in the January 2023 paper showing the …
Producers get shaking on quake prep
A shallow, 6.5-magnitude quake south of Haida Gwaii on September 15 as well as two smaller quakes off the Lower Mainland on September 26 and October 4 are reminders of the need to prepare for a larger seismic event. Haida Gwaii rancher and large animal vet Don Richardson advises producers think ahead, with a view …