Agriculture

Beekeepers move approximately 3.5 million bees from travelling frames into hives at a farm on North Oyster’s Code Road on March 8. (Duck Paterson photo)

3.5 million bees keep warm on Vancouver Island before heading to Prairies

Bees brought from New Zealand to invigorate hives in Saskatchewan

  • Mar 17, 2023

 

The Chilcotin River and its tributaries are critical fish habitat. (Photo submitted)

Chilcotin ranch fined $455,000 after pleading guilty to altering salmon habitat

Altherr Schellenberg Cattle Co. Ltd impacted tributaries of the Chilcotin River

  • Mar 16, 2023

 

Pam Alexis, B.C. minister of agriculture and food, said the $5 million she was announcing on March 16 in Chilliwack will protect farmers and their animals from animal diseases, which in turn will protect B.C.’s economy and food security. (Jennifer Feinberg/ The Chilliwack Progress)

B.C. creates $5M animal-disease response program to make farmers, ranchers more resilient

‘Quicker, better’ response coming for B.C. outbreaks of avian influenza, swine fever: ag minister

 

Farmers and other food producers are promised additional supports under a new funding agreement between B.C. and the federal government. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)

New agreement with Ottawa promises more support for B.C. farmers

Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership kicks in April 1, 2023

Farmers and other food producers are promised additional supports under a new funding agreement between B.C. and the federal government. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)
Seedy Saturday at the Quesnel CNC campus is the green thumb’s kickoff to spring, with seed exchanging along with exchanges of knowledge all taking root. (Quesnel Observer photo)

Quesnel feels the need for seed

Ideas and plantlife all grow from Seedy Saturday

Seedy Saturday at the Quesnel CNC campus is the green thumb’s kickoff to spring, with seed exchanging along with exchanges of knowledge all taking root. (Quesnel Observer photo)
Shahram Rashti (left) and Bahram Rashti (right) of UP Vertical Farms just unveiled Canada’s first hands-free vertical farming facility. (Special to The News)

Canada gets its first hands-free vertical farming facility

UP Vertical Farms is expected to produce nearly 2 million pounds of salad greens each year

Shahram Rashti (left) and Bahram Rashti (right) of UP Vertical Farms just unveiled Canada’s first hands-free vertical farming facility. (Special to The News)
CTV is looking for single farmers for their reality dating show. (File Photo)

Put on your dress-up flannel, Farming for Love is looking for singles in B.C.

The CTV reality show is looking to cast farmers for the reality dating show

CTV is looking for single farmers for their reality dating show. (File Photo)
Ranch Musings columnist David Zirnhelt. (File photo)

RANCH MUSINGS: Where are cattle prices going?

Higher margin years such as we are in should leave us with retained earnings

  • Feb 19, 2023
Ranch Musings columnist David Zirnhelt. (File photo)
Dairy cows are seen at a farm, Friday, August 31, 2018 in Sainte-Marie-Madelaine, Que. A pair of senior U.S. senators are urging the Biden administration to get tough with Canada for “flouting” obligations to its North American trade partners. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

U.S. senators call for trade crackdown on Canada over dairy quotas, digital policies

Pair say America’s continental trading partners playing fast and loose with new rules

Dairy cows are seen at a farm, Friday, August 31, 2018 in Sainte-Marie-Madelaine, Que. A pair of senior U.S. senators are urging the Biden administration to get tough with Canada for “flouting” obligations to its North American trade partners. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
A new Plant and Animal Health Centre will be built by the province in the Fraser Valley, as the current building is at risk of flooding again someday. The ministry of agriculture and food will have a business plan with some suitable locations highlighted by the end of 2023. (Pixabay photo)

Province announces plans to replace Abbotsford plant and animal health facility, citing flood risk

Current facility in Abbotsford was damaged by the flooding in 2021 but back in operation for now

A new Plant and Animal Health Centre will be built by the province in the Fraser Valley, as the current building is at risk of flooding again someday. The ministry of agriculture and food will have a business plan with some suitable locations highlighted by the end of 2023. (Pixabay photo)
Cows on a dairy farm, in St-Henri-de-Taillon, Que., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Months-long saga of runaway cattle in Quebec comes to an end with weekend capture

Officials to determine who is responsible for tracking and capturing future runaway farm animals

Cows on a dairy farm, in St-Henri-de-Taillon, Que., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
River Ranch cowboys bring home cattle from a fall meadow, a process which takes three days to complete, to feed for the winter months. (Raquel Russell file photo)

Farmers develop their ground game with upcoming BC Forage Council workshops

Workshops will be held in Smithers, Burns Lake, Vanderhoof, PG, Quesnel and Williams Lake

River Ranch cowboys bring home cattle from a fall meadow, a process which takes three days to complete, to feed for the winter months. (Raquel Russell file photo)
Workers picking 15 different types of fruits and vegetables including strawberries stand to earn more as their piece rates will rise starting Jan. 1 under a provincial mandate. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. fruit, berry growers now have to pay workers more

Provincially mandated increase came into effect Jan. 1 in response to rising inflation

Workers picking 15 different types of fruits and vegetables including strawberries stand to earn more as their piece rates will rise starting Jan. 1 under a provincial mandate. (Black Press Media file photo)
Brilliant blue skies and a herd of black Angus cattle make for a pretty picture along Highway 97 recently. (Anna Fait photo)

Works of progress: taking a more sophisticated approach to stewarding the soil

Progressing towards a better future or past state of affairs has become…

  • Dec 25, 2022
Brilliant blue skies and a herd of black Angus cattle make for a pretty picture along Highway 97 recently. (Anna Fait photo)
Ranch Musings columnist David Zirnhelt. (File photo)

RANCH MUSINGS: Financial bad news and yet there is hope

When my brain was warm enough this past week, it kept returning…

  • Dec 10, 2022
Ranch Musings columnist David Zirnhelt. (File photo)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, front left, responds to questions as Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino listens during a news conference to announce Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy in Vancouver on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Agriculture commodity groups are applauding the Liberal government’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy and hoping it will lead to more, and better, free trade deals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canadian agriculture groups hope new Indo-Pacific strategy leads to trade deals

$244.1 million earmarked for improving trade between Canada and countries in the region

Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, front left, responds to questions as Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino listens during a news conference to announce Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy in Vancouver on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Agriculture commodity groups are applauding the Liberal government’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy and hoping it will lead to more, and better, free trade deals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
B.C. Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham speaks during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Friday July 5, 2019. Farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are facing “intense disease pressure,” with an avian flu outbreak in commercial farms that the agriculture minister says is concerning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. ‘doing everything’ it can to stop bird flu, minister says, as infections spread

Lana Popham says normally avian flu aligns with bird migration seasons, but not this year

B.C. Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham speaks during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Friday July 5, 2019. Farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are facing “intense disease pressure,” with an avian flu outbreak in commercial farms that the agriculture minister says is concerning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A farmer sorts through eggs as they exit the hen barn at an egg farm in West Lincoln, Ont., on Monday, March 7, 2016. Canadian poultry and egg producers have now lost more than 3.7 million birds to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)

Seven Fraser Valley poultry farms under quarantine for avian influenza

Commercial flocks at risk from migratory birds; ministry offering free online information sessions

A farmer sorts through eggs as they exit the hen barn at an egg farm in West Lincoln, Ont., on Monday, March 7, 2016. Canadian poultry and egg producers have now lost more than 3.7 million birds to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power)
Hoofbeats and Heartbeats 4-H Club leader Tawnie Fehr (left) with Quesnel and District 4-H key leader Erin Kishkan met with parents and youth during an information night held Wednesday, Nov. 16. (Rebecca Dyok photo — Quesnel Observer)

Equine-focused 4-H Club launches in Quesnel

Registration for Hoofbeats and Heartbeats opens Dec. 1

Hoofbeats and Heartbeats 4-H Club leader Tawnie Fehr (left) with Quesnel and District 4-H key leader Erin Kishkan met with parents and youth during an information night held Wednesday, Nov. 16. (Rebecca Dyok photo — Quesnel Observer)
A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. Experts say outbreaks of H5N1 represent an unprecedented threat to Canada, infecting about 200 flocks with about 3.5 million birds nationwide. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Republican-Herald, Lindsey Shuey

Bird flu fighters in B.C. face unprecedented challenge, as H5N1 spreads across Canada

H5N1 has infected about 200 flocks with more than 3.5 million birds Canada-wide this year

A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. Experts say outbreaks of H5N1 represent an unprecedented threat to Canada, infecting about 200 flocks with about 3.5 million birds nationwide. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Republican-Herald, Lindsey Shuey