The rollout of the province’s new meat licensing regime October 1 will also mean stepped-up inspections of on-farm abattoirs. In addition to an annual inspection by the province, Farmgate Plus licensees (formerly Class D and E abattoirs) that slaughter cattle will also undergo inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The inspections aim to preserve …
NEWS
RegenBC conference emphasizes context
Regenerative agriculture means working with nature not against it, but how technology fits into the picture is another question. An average of 200 people participated in this first two nights of the RegenBC conference the province hosted this week. The event is the first public initiative as part of the Regenerative Agriculture and Agritech Network …
Japanese beetle spreads
The discovery of a small number of Japanese beetles in south Vancouver and Burnaby have prompted renewed calls for vigilance and precautions on the part of industry and the public. Since the pest’s discovery near False Creek in Vancouver in 2017, the BC Landscape and Nursery Association has been part of a coordinated response by …
BC watches Stateside hornets
This week will see Washington State Department of Agriculture staff destroy a third nest of Asian Giant Hornets, making this year the most active yet for hornet hunters. The invasive insect, which can measure up to five cm in length, is at the most active stage of its lifecycle right now, seeking out animal proteins …
Don’t blame the wildfires
While this year’s wildfire season was routinely described as unprecedented, numbers from the Insurance Bureau of Canada point to the costs being a blip next to other natural disasters. Together, insured damages from this year’s wildfires amounted to a mere $155 million, split between just two fires – the Lytton wildfire, at $78 million, and …
Hello, status quo
This week’s federal election means the next parliament will look an awful lot like the last one, despite minor changes in representation for BC farmers. While the votes have yet to be fully counted at this writing, federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau won re-election in his riding to become prime minister of his second minority …