A clearer picture is emerging of livestock losses as a result of last week’s flooding and landslides in the Lower Mainland and southern Interior. The good news is, it’s not all bad. A preliminary assessment by the BC Dairy Association this week indicates that 500 cattle perished on Sumas Prairie, a fraction of the approximately …
NEWS
Province won’t relocate farms
Preventing development in disaster-prone areas is on the table as the province seeks to mitigate risk from future floods and wildfires, but BC’s minister of public safety says farms shouldn’t worry. Pointing to the lessons learned from the floods that tore through farmland and residential neighbourhoods after a dike broke in Grand Forks in 2018, …
BC Veg seeks commissioners
Two new independent commissioners are being sought by the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission in order to boost decision-making capacity while limiting the perception of bias in commission decisions. A notice from the commission encourages candidates with previous experience as directors and the demonstrated skills needed to contribute to decision-making and oversight to apply. Candidates should …
Catastrophic flooding hits Fraser Valley
The flood waters are receding but the toll of what the province has dubbed “the worst weather storm in a century” is rising, with Abbotsford pointing to heavy losses of livestock on Sumas Prairie. “I saw barns half-full of water,” Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said on Wednesday morning, following a flyover of the area on …
Cedar Valley licence reinstated
An investigation by the BC Milk Marketing Board of Cedar Valley Farms in Abbotsford has resulted in the reinstatement of the farm’s production licence with several conditions. The licence was suspended October 27 following allegations that workers at the farm had abused animals, claims supported by video footage provided to the BC SPCA and subsequently …
Tree fruits set for shakeup
The province released 19 recommendations last week that outline a vision for stabilizing BC’s troubled tree fruit sector, the culmination of a nine-month process launched in February at the annual convention of the BC Fruit Growers Association. “BCFGA is supportive and observe that the government recommendations have taken account of difficult times in the apple sector …