The latest rate hike by the Bank of Canada is putting the onus on farmers to plan further ahead to stay on top of the financial impacts. The central bank’s policy rate increased a further 75 basis points on September 7 to 3.25%, or 13 times the rate on March 1. It’s the fifth consecutive …
NEWS
Cool weather improves wildfire response
PENTICTON – Wildfires in the area between the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys have shaped up as the biggest direct threat to BC ranchers this summer, with many still on edge after last year’s intense, wind-driven fires with lengthy perimeters. The Keremeos Creek wildfire 21 kilometres southwest of Penticton, the largest blaze in the province outside …
Cattleliner loss mourned
Country Life in BC joins Western Canada’s dairy community as it mourns the loss of three young men and nearly two dozen animals in a head-on collision Sunday. Brandon Johnson and Tanner Liefting were hauling Team BC heifers back from the Western Canadian Classic junior dairy competition in Brandon, Manitoba when their rig collided near …
Disaster relief deadline passes
Fresh landslides in the Nicola Valley last week underscored the ongoing impacts of last year’s extreme weather as the deadline for applications to the federal-provincial AgriRecovery program unveiled in response to last November’s catastrophic mudslides and flooding approached. But just a fraction of the $228 million allocated to the 2021 Flood Recovery Program for Food …
Regional processing supported
Processing capacity is essential to local food security, bringing local production across the finish line onto the plates of consumers. While the province’s agriculture ministry has invested in a food hub network, smaller initiatives are also afoot to support the crop and livestock producers. On August 23, Hornby Island Farmland Trust Society was awarded a …
Province’s peach supply down
Cold winter weather and the cooler spring have profoundly affected the BC peach crops, with some producers reporting little or no production this year. “A couple of the early varieties had blossoms and got pollinated. So, we had peaches on three types, a very light crop, but they are all finished now,” says Jennay Oliver …