Agriculture

The Peach ice cream had become a major tourists attraction onto itself. But city staff awarded the license for the next three years to Alberta-based company. (The Peach Facebook) The Peach, on the shore of Okanagan Lake in Penticton, has become an iconic landmark of Penticton’s lakefront. (The Peach Facebook)

QUIZ: A celebration of the fruit harvest

In orchards around British Columbia, fruit pickers are hard at work

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau picks cherries at family farm owner Derek Lutz’s orchard in Summerland, B.C., Monday, July 18, 2022. The heat and wildfires in British Columbia last year combined with mild temperatures in the earlier months of 2022 have left fruit growers with a sour taste as farmers record a lighter than normal crop. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Trudeau tours B.C. cherry farm, where weather events have affected crop

Cherry crop about 30 to 40 per cent lower than normal year, and about two weeks behind

 

Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough (centre-left) visited plant-based food manufacturer Big Mountain Foods 2 Ltd.’s production facility in her riding of Delta on July 7, 2022, the same day the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food announced the government was investing over $1.4 million in the company. (submitted photo)

Feds invests over $1.4 million in B.C. plant-based food producer

Big Mountain Foods 2 to add fully-automated robotic equipment, commercialize chickpea tofu

 

(Right to left) Nick Schafer, Amy Soranno and Roy Sasano’s trial begins on Monday (June 27). Geoff Regier (left) had all his charges dropped.

B.C. hog farm protesters going to trial on Monday

Trial for Roy Sasano, Nick Schafer and Amy Soranno scheduled for Abbotsford court

(Right to left) Nick Schafer, Amy Soranno and Roy Sasano’s trial begins on Monday (June 27). Geoff Regier (left) had all his charges dropped.
Vancouver Island’s kelp forests have responded in a variety of ways, according to research out of the University of Victoria. Unsplash/contributed photo

B.C. kelp is in hot water, but science may help save our underwater rainforests

UVic study of Vancouver Island kelp forests could help map a future for them amidst climate change

Vancouver Island’s kelp forests have responded in a variety of ways, according to research out of the University of Victoria. Unsplash/contributed photo
B.C. is investing another $12 million into the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program, and upping the weekly amount participants receive from $21 to $27. (Photo: BC Association of Farmers’ Markets)

B.C. upping access to farmers’ market coupon program with $12-million injection

Program provides low-income households, seniors, pregnant people with weekly coupons for local goods

B.C. is investing another $12 million into the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program, and upping the weekly amount participants receive from $21 to $27. (Photo: BC Association of Farmers’ Markets)
A drop of maple water drips out of a spile from a tree that was just tapped at the Vanier Museopark sugar bush in Ottawa on Saturday, March 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Maple syrup producers see climate change as a threat to industry’s future

Syrup producers are recording declining yields due to increasing global temperatures

A drop of maple water drips out of a spile from a tree that was just tapped at the Vanier Museopark sugar bush in Ottawa on Saturday, March 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The pickers lay down on a flatbed trailer to harvest asparagus. (Photo by Kelsey Yates)

Ripe for the picking: Creston’s iconic asparagus has late start due to cold spring

Sutcliffe Farms is the largest asparagus producer in the province

The pickers lay down on a flatbed trailer to harvest asparagus. (Photo by Kelsey Yates)
Due to the rising costs of fuel and fertilizer farmers like Tara Sawyer, pictured at her family’s farm near Acme, Alta., Tuesday, May 17, 2022, say this will be the most expensive crop in Canadian history. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Stakes are high for farmers as 2022 crop shapes up to be Canada’s most expensive ever

Costs surge due to inflationary pressures, spiking energy costs, and the war in Ukraine

Due to the rising costs of fuel and fertilizer farmers like Tara Sawyer, pictured at her family’s farm near Acme, Alta., Tuesday, May 17, 2022, say this will be the most expensive crop in Canadian history. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
If you are a producer and want your flock safe, follow the guidelines to avoid Avian Influenza or bird flu. (Angie Mindus/Black Press file)

Avian flu detected in birds at commercial farm in Fraser Valley

This is the first case in the Fraser Valley as H5N1 virus spreads across province

If you are a producer and want your flock safe, follow the guidelines to avoid Avian Influenza or bird flu. (Angie Mindus/Black Press file)
A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. The state Department of Agriculture confirmed a case of avian influenza in Lancaster County on Saturday. (Lindsey Shuey/Republican-Herald via AP)

Small flock in Comox Valley is B.C.’s 7th to test positive for avian influenza

All commercial poultry operators with more than 100 birds ordered to move flocks indoors

A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. The state Department of Agriculture confirmed a case of avian influenza in Lancaster County on Saturday. (Lindsey Shuey/Republican-Herald via AP)
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 1.7 million birds to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

Canadian farmers battle avian flu as bird death toll hits 1.7 million

Alberta is the hardest hit province, with 900,000 birds dead and 23 farms affected

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 1.7 million birds to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power
A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says bird flu has been found in three more communities in Alberta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lindsey Shuey-Republican-Herald via AP

Avian flu confirmed in 3 more Alberta communities: Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Cases confirmed in Two Hills, Wainwright and Lethbridge County

A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says bird flu has been found in three more communities in Alberta. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lindsey Shuey-Republican-Herald via AP
Don Davidson pictured at Pigeon Lake Alta, on Sunday May 1, 2022. 2022. Thousands of Alberta cottagers and homeowners are waiting nervously to see if a provincial regulator will allow a large feedlot to be developed near the popular and environmentally fragile recreational lake. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Proposed cattle feedlot threatens popular but fragile Alberta lake, residents say

G&S Cattle of Ponoka, Alta., wants to pen 4,000 cattle about four kilometres west of Pigeon Lake

Don Davidson pictured at Pigeon Lake Alta, on Sunday May 1, 2022. 2022. Thousands of Alberta cottagers and homeowners are waiting nervously to see if a provincial regulator will allow a large feedlot to be developed near the popular and environmentally fragile recreational lake. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Small flock owners can access key info on avian influenza from a just released outreach document from the B.C. agriculture ministry. (Angie Mindus/Williams Lake Tribune file)

Avian influenza fact sheet put together for small-flock owners after detection in B.C.

B.C. agriculture ministry reaching out to owners of small flocks across B.C.

Small flock owners can access key info on avian influenza from a just released outreach document from the B.C. agriculture ministry. (Angie Mindus/Williams Lake Tribune file)
Avian influenza has struck a south Cowichan flock. (Citizen file)

Second B.C. case of avian influenza suspected on Vancouver Island

Mill Bay bird owner warned of possible bird flu in nearby backyard flock

Avian influenza has struck a south Cowichan flock. (Citizen file)
Duck breeders load ducks into a truck to bring them to a slaughterhouse at a poultry farm in Saint Aubin, southwestern France, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. France’s agriculture ministry had ordered all remaining 360,000 ducks in a key poultry-producing region slaughtered to try to stem a growing outbreak of bird flu. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

Avian flu: Quebec duck farm says it has to kill 150,000 birds, lay off 300 staff

Company says it could take a year and several million dollars to fully restore operations

Duck breeders load ducks into a truck to bring them to a slaughterhouse at a poultry farm in Saint Aubin, southwestern France, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. France’s agriculture ministry had ordered all remaining 360,000 ducks in a key poultry-producing region slaughtered to try to stem a growing outbreak of bird flu. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
Chickens are seen at a chicken farm that was flooded but now getting back up and running in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. Poultry farmers in British Columbia are under pressure to protect their flocks as a highly contagious strain of avian flu sweeps over North America. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. poultry farmers uniquely equipped to respond to possible avian flu

578 poultry farms in B.C., about 80 per cent of those are located in the Fraser Valley

Chickens are seen at a chicken farm that was flooded but now getting back up and running in Abbotsford, B.C., Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. Poultry farmers in British Columbia are under pressure to protect their flocks as a highly contagious strain of avian flu sweeps over North America. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
B.C. cherry farmers and other fruit growers have been challenged by weather patterns. (pixabay photo)

Cherry farmers worried by unseasonably cold temperatures in British Columbia

Helicopters being used to push much-needed warm air over crops

B.C. cherry farmers and other fruit growers have been challenged by weather patterns. (pixabay photo)
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham introduces Sarah Wilson of Pendleton Farm in the Comox Valley, one of more than 200 farmers using the B.C. Land Matching Program, Merville, April 13, 2022. (Scott Stanfield/Comox Valley Record)

B.C.’s young farmer lease program grows to 203 properties

Retiring farmers get matched with those starting out

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham introduces Sarah Wilson of Pendleton Farm in the Comox Valley, one of more than 200 farmers using the B.C. Land Matching Program, Merville, April 13, 2022. (Scott Stanfield/Comox Valley Record)