PITT MEADOWS – Severinski Farms reached a golden milestone this fall, one recognized with the province’s Century Farm and Ranch Award. The celebration in September was attended by nearly 200 people, including friends, family and local politicians. It was a special moment for the entire family, but especially Harry and Louise Severinski, who have been …
NEWS
Dairy compensation fund opens
There’s a spot of good news for dairy farmers reeling from this year’s natural disasters. Just in time for Christmas, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada is accepting applications for the third round of payments under the Direct Payment Program, worth $38,000 to a farm with 80 cows. The program delivers $1.75 billion to the dairy sector …
Christmas sales on track
Christmas greenery was in strong demand and ample supply this week, despite some challenges shipping product to market in late November. “The actual interest in Christmas products at the retail level, it was probably one of the strongest years we’ve seen in many years,” says Stan Vander Waal, president of Rainbow Greenhouses Inc. in Chilliwack. …
Growers cool to ice wine
The wine won’t be ready for Christmas, but grape growers picked the first grapes for this year’s ice wine harvest in the early hours of December 17 as temperatures fell below -10° Celsius at sites in Kelowna, Summerland and Okanagan Falls. By law, temperatures must reach -8° Celsius to allow the frozen grapes to be …
BC Chicken picks Siemens
The new year will see a new executive director in place at the BC Chicken Marketing Board. BC Chicken announced this week that Woody Siemens, currently supply chain and business development director with the BC Milk Marketing Board, would succeed Bill Vanderspek as executive director on January 4. Vanderspek retired from the chicken board August …
Food price realities differ
An annual forecast of food price trends across Canada is once more predicting higher grocery prices in BC, but the province hasn’t lived up to past expectations. The current edition of Canada’s Food Price Report, led by Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University, draws on the research of teams at the University of Guelph, University of …