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Originally published:

MAY 2024
Vol. 110 Issue 5

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Stories In This Edition

Livestock oversight to change

Horsepower

Boost in wool prices welcomed

Ag council expands membership

Editorial: Shining a light

Back 40: Perseverance, resilience carry us forward

Viewpoint: Pastured poultry producers face barriers

Federal funding delay stalls berry research

Market time

Strawberry trials face funding challenges

Dairy demand prompts quota increase

Ag Briefs: Provincial funding for UFV lab

Ag Briefs: BC Tree sells packinghouse site

Letters: Speaker, story hits a nerve

BC Veg finds its footing to a bright future

Eastern Filbert Blight threatens to resurface

Delta farmers welcome irrigation study

Tree talk

AgSafe BC celebrates accomplishments

Foreign worker numbers rise

Volunteers remain the backbone of successful fairs

Celebrated leader a force in BC wine sector

Cheap wine poses a threat to VQA label

Beekeepers face a tough year with weather, pests

Sidebar: Tech transfer program steady

Cranberry congress focuses on production

Sidebar: Cranberry organizations staying strong looking to the future

Mobile slaughter trailers rolled out

Chetwynd rancher leaves a lasting legacy

Virtual fencing could be a reality for ranchers

Bullish

Farm Story: Could garlic be less complicated?

Hopper management starts early this year

Sidebar: Peace braces for grasshoppers

Woodshed: The slugfest may be over but …

Plowing ahead

Jude’s Kitchen: Retro food for a ‘vintage’ Mom on her day

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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BC Cattlemen’s Association members gathered in Cranbrook for their 97th AGM last week. BCCA president Werner Stump welcomed upwards of 300 ranchers as he signalled a change in tone with the association’s approach to government. “We are going to be a lot more blunt in our dealings with government as we fight for our livelihood,” Stump told his audience. The North American herd size remains down, and calf prices are expected to stay strong, says Brenna Grant from Canfax. “We could see $5.50 -$5.70 this fall for a 5(00) weight calves.” Duncan and Jane Barnett and family from Barnett Land and Livestock in 150 Mile House received the Ranch Sustainability Award, which recognized their riparian management and community involvement. From left to right, Clayton Loewen with Jane, Duncan and Lindsay Barnett.

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Congratulations!!!

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Congratulations Duncan and Jane Trott Barnett Well deserved recognition

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Congratulations to Duncan, Jane, and all the rest of the Barnett family!

Congratulations Duncan and Jane!!

Congratulations Jane and Ducan! Sandra Andresen Hawkins

Congratulations Jane & Duncan 🥳

Congratulation Duncan & Jane!!

Congratulations Jane Trott Barnett and Duncan!!!

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1 month ago

Grapegrower Colleen Ingram, who was recognized earlier this year as the 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association. “Given the devastation we have had over the last three years, I feel like this award should be given to the entire industry,” she says. Her story appears in the June edition of Country Life in BC, and we've also posted to our website.

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Industry champion named BC’s best grape grower

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KELOWNA – Colleen Ingram’s enthusiasm for collaboration within the BC wine industry is so great that when she was named 2024 Grower of the Year by the BC Grapegrowers Association, she wanted to sh...
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2 months ago

From orchard manager to government specialist and now executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association, Adrian Arts brings a rare blend of hands-on farming experience and organizational leadership to an industry poised for renewal. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment for BC fruit growers, with Arts expressing enthusiasm about continuing the momentum built by his predecessor and working alongside a board that signals a generational shift in agricultural advocacy.

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Arts leads BCFGA forward

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A combination of organizational management and practical farming experience has primed the new executive director of the BC Fruit Growers Association to lead the industry forward.
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3 months ago

A public consultation is now underway on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board. Key issues for dairy producers include transportation costs, rules governing shipments and limitations on supporting processing initiatives. Stakeholders have until May 31 to comment.

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Milk board undertakes review

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A public consultation on the powers and duties of the BC Milk Marketing Board is underway as part of a triennial review required by the British Columbia Milk Marketing Board Regulation.
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Celebrated leader a force in BC wine sector

Severine Pinte reflects on past, looks forward in BC’s wine sector

Winemaker and viticulturist Severine Pinte has been recognized with the Wine Growers BC Leadership Excellence award. SUBMITTED

May 1, 2024 byKate Ayers

OLIVER – Since 2013, the Wine Growers BC Leadership Excellence Award has recognized those whose work in the fields of media, research, policy, regulation, education or advocacy have advanced the sector.

This year, as the BC wine industry faces an existential threat from successive years of weather disasters, Severine Pinte, winemaker, viticulturist and managing partner of Enotecca Wineries and Resorts, was awarded for her dedication to steering the industry through its challenges.

“She’s an absolute force in the BC wine industry and she is so well loved and regarded by everybody here and always lends her time and expertise to various boards and committees,” says Wine Growers BC acting communications director Lindsay Kelm, who chaired the awards committee. “She just always goes above and beyond to support everybody in the industry.”

Pinte’s career began in Southern France, where she graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier. There, she attained a Master’s degree in viticulture and oenology and a National Diploma of Oenology. She then apprenticed and worked in France, Canada and Australia.

In 2010, Pinte and her family moved to the Okanagan where she began working at La Stella winery in Osoyoos and Le Vieux Pin in Oliver.

Pinte was drawn to BC by a desire to be part of a growing and dynamic wine industry.

“I like its dynamism and it’s still very new, so there’s still lots to build, and the climate is very challenging,” Pinte says. “The grapes, the terroir, the soil, they’re excellent. It’s very unique. It’s a very micro-region in the whole world of wine and it has so much potential. That is very motivating.”

With experience leading sustainability projects in France, Pinte brought an eye and drive for moving the needle on reducing the environmental footprints of wineries.

“One of my dreams was to eventually get certification here and so when I came in, I joined the Sustainable Winegrowing BC program. And then I was part of the launch of the certification,” Pinte says, who now chairs the organization.

La Stella and Le Vieux Pin  were certified sustainable in July 2021, and currently participate in a living lab experiment to find the optimal cover crops for the South Okanagan.

“The idea is to increase the soil health and so if the soil is healthy, the plant will be healthier and then the grapes will be more balanced and eventually we will probably be able to decrease our sprays because the plant will be resistant to more disease and fungus,” Pinte says.

The vineyard team also monitors irrigation and records plant response to optimize and ultimately limit water use.

In addition, Pinte inspires, motivates and supports women working in the wine sector.

Mentor

The opportunity to work with Pinte is initially what piqued Ruth King’s interest in applying for her current role of program manager with Sustainable Winegrowing BC.

“Between her legendary winemaking, viticulture practice and her position as chair of the Sustainable Winegrowing BC committee, her name has become synonymous with sustainable BC wine. Our motto is ‘inspired people growing outstanding wine’ and this is Sev all the way,” King says. “Sev is like the Lorax of Dr. Seuss’s story; she speaks for the small producers and the real producers of premium wines in our province, the growers.”

King notes that Pinte is also a successful, hands-on businesswoman who spends a significant amount of time in the vineyard and winery sorting grapes, managing the press, tasting product, writing grants and organizing the team and work for the next day.

“Sixty per cent of my job is planning and organization and then I do a lot of work on the sustainability program that we have now implemented at the two wineries and vineyards,” Pinte says. “And lots of updating and lots of research [about] what’s coming up. There’s a lot of research around creating a carbon calculator for the wine industry, so [I’m] trying to participate in that.”

Pinte’s dedication to sustainability and hard work in the sector resulted in a previous award in spring 2023 when she was knighted to France’s 140-year-old Order of Agricultural Merit by the France’s consul general in Vancouver.

Increased collaboration

Over her 14 years in BC’s wine sector, Pinte has seen increased collaboration take shape. Indeed, it’s been essential to her own success.

“It’s not just because of me that I received this award,” she says. “It is because I am working within the wine industry with people; the collaboration piece and the teamwork is very important.”

This cooperation has translated into broader awareness of what’s needed to elevate the sector overall.

“A lot more people are more and more in tune with the dirt, with the terroir and a lot more growers and winemakers are taking care of the land and then making sure that they are growing balanced grapes, not just seeing dollars on the vine,” Pinte says. “Because of that, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in the quality of the wine.”

Looking ahead to this year’s growing season, patience and planning will be key, Pinte says.

“Not every block will react in the same way. That’s the lesson that we got from last year. So, I think it’s just patience and wait and see,” she says. “We’re trying to cut expenses … [and] save money ahead of time. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to manage the inventory.”

Pinte isn’t a catastrophist when it comes to the industry’s weather woes. She says it’s still too early to tell if a replant will be needed this year, as no one has a crystal ball that can predict the outcome of January’s frost event.

“Very challenging winters have forced the industry to look at our practices and I think we’ve identified that maybe there’s some varietals that might not be planted in the right spot,” she says. “Sustainability is a big word, but I think there’s a lot more people in the industry that are understanding the importance of being part of that movement and I think over the years we’ll see a lot more people being certified and growing, living, working and managing in that way.”

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