While farms elsewhere in Canada have expressed concern about the implementation of carbon taxes, greenhouse growers in BC are giving thanks for another year of tax relief. The province will accept tax relief applications from greenhouse vegetable and flower growers with sales in excess of $20,000 in 2018 and with a production area greater than …
NEWS
Hazelnut growers await new production guide
BC hazelnut growers will soon be able to consult a guide that will help them overcome the challenges of establishing an orchard and maximizing their trees’ potential. Provincial berry and nut specialist Karina Sakalauskas expects the long-awaited BC Hazelnut Production Guide to appear this spring. Its publication is set to coincide with a fresh crop …
Banner year as BC farm sales rise 57%
Sales of farm properties in BC rose 57% in 2018, according to the latest property transfer data from the BC Ministry of Finance. The full-year figures, released at the end of January, show that 1,547 farm properties changed hands in 2018, up from 987 in 2017. Sales activity was steady throughout the year, with between …
Hospital procurement program coming
A new program set to debut in the Okanagan will be a step towards fulfilling the Feed BC plank of the mandate Premier John Horgan gave BC agriculture minister Lana Popham in 2016. Announcement of the initiative was set to occur at Penticton Regional Hospital this week, but was delayed by a landslide across Highway …
Tax relief for livestock producers
Ottawa has approved 79 census subdivisions in BC for relief under the livestock tax deferral program. Producers in seven provinces are eligible for the relief, but Western producers will be key beneficiaries. The designated locations in BC include all of Vancouver Island and the BC coast north from Point Tsawwassen to Haida Gwaii and Stewart, …
Province releases waste control regulation
The province has released its long-awaited Agriculture Waste Control Regulation, and growers across the province expect it will add to the cost of farming in BC. The new regulation updates the previous rule, which has been in effect since 1992. The requirements will take immediate effect in the Hullcar Valley, and expand across the province …