Farming

Ben Glassen working with turkeys on a farm in the Westwood Road area of Nanaimo. Glassen wants to establish a poultry abattoir on a site on Jingle Pot Road. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)

With meat-processing site numbers dwindling, Vancouver Island farmer seeks abattoir

Ben Glassen has ALC application for small-scale facility in Nanaimo

 

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham. (Screen shot)

Government to allow ‘more residential flexibility’ in agricultural lands, says B.C. minister

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham was guest speaker Friday during Surrey Board of Trade-hosted Zoom meeting

 

Farm hand Connor Hunt bales a hay crop near Cremona, Alta., Monday, July 17, 2017. Farmers are calling for emergency relief as drought ravages crops across the Prairie provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Prairie farmers pray for rain as drought, grasshoppers ravage crops and pastures

Scorching temperatures have left crops in poor condition across wide swaths of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

 

Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Vancouver Island farmers face significant crop losses due to excessive heat

Berry patches suffer extensive damage, but high temperatures a benefit for corn growers

Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canadian farmers have spring in their step from strongest commodity prices in years

Canola recently hit a 13-year peak after stubbornly low prices, gaining 52 per cent year-to-date

Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A mink sniffs the air as he surveys the river beach in search of food, in meadow near the village of Khatenchitsy, 65 kilometres northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 4, 2015. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is the latest group to speak out against mink farming in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Sergei Grits

Union of BC Indian Chiefs latest group to call for moratorium on B.C. mink farming

With other countries phasing out mink farming, time is now for province to follow suit, says union VP

A mink sniffs the air as he surveys the river beach in search of food, in meadow near the village of Khatenchitsy, 65 kilometres northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 4, 2015. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is the latest group to speak out against mink farming in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Sergei Grits
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Province invests $2M in three Vancouver Island food hubs

Hub network provides shared-use processing facilities to small agri-businesses

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A Nanaimo chicken breeder came home to discover a gruesome scene Monday after a neighbour’s dog got loose and killed 28 of her chickens. (Photo submitted)

Dog kills ‘showgirl’ chickens at Vancouver Island farm

Breeder in Cedar upset at deaths of more than two dozen chickens

A Nanaimo chicken breeder came home to discover a gruesome scene Monday after a neighbour’s dog got loose and killed 28 of her chickens. (Photo submitted)
A seaweed farm installation in Klahoose First Nations Territory by Cortes Island. (Cascadia Seaweed photo)

Seaweed farming opens world of opportunity for coastal B.C.

“It’s projects like this that can show what true reconciliation is about.”

A seaweed farm installation in Klahoose First Nations Territory by Cortes Island. (Cascadia Seaweed photo)
In early 2022, B.C. farmers and ranchers will be required to participate in the Premises Identification (ID) program. (Black Press Media files)

B.C. farmers and ranchers will be required to ID their livestock by end of 2021

The program will allow the province to trace animals in times of danger and disease

In early 2022, B.C. farmers and ranchers will be required to participate in the Premises Identification (ID) program. (Black Press Media files)
Protesting farmers and their families gather around a bonfire to mark the harvest festival, which is called Lohri, on a blocked highway in protest against new farm laws on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. Changes in India’s farm laws could potentially open up one of the world’s most populous markets and are being closely watched by Canada’s agricultural and economic sectors, say experts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Altaf Qadri

Changes in Indian farm laws could benefit Canada, experts say

Laws have sparked large-scale protests from farmers

Protesting farmers and their families gather around a bonfire to mark the harvest festival, which is called Lohri, on a blocked highway in protest against new farm laws on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. Changes in India’s farm laws could potentially open up one of the world’s most populous markets and are being closely watched by Canada’s agricultural and economic sectors, say experts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Altaf Qadri
Dave and Skye Hamming of Tazo Farms are pictured inside their barn, with roughly 110 cattle behind them. A recently installed DeLeval milking robot, pictured in the background, allows them to do more, with fewer hands. (Phil McLachlan - Black Press Media)

Supply management key to survival of B.C. dairy industry, says Okanagan farmer

Automation, robotic milking; family farms continue to adapt to keep up with the changing times

Dave and Skye Hamming of Tazo Farms are pictured inside their barn, with roughly 110 cattle behind them. A recently installed DeLeval milking robot, pictured in the background, allows them to do more, with fewer hands. (Phil McLachlan - Black Press Media)
“Comet,” born Dec. 18, survived his mother’s death at Christina Lake’s Fuster Cluck Farm after local farmers stepped in with life-saving milk. Comet is pictured in the home of Fuster Cluck’s Amy Enns-Haywood and Nigel Haywood. Photo courtesy of Amy Enns-Haywood.

Baby goat survives rocky birth at Kootenay farm after neighbours pitch in

“Comet” is thriving at Fuster Cluck Farm, where he plays with other baby goats and the farmers’ daughter

“Comet,” born Dec. 18, survived his mother’s death at Christina Lake’s Fuster Cluck Farm after local farmers stepped in with life-saving milk. Comet is pictured in the home of Fuster Cluck’s Amy Enns-Haywood and Nigel Haywood. Photo courtesy of Amy Enns-Haywood.
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau rises during a sitting of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the House of Commons, in Ottawa, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Feds reveal details of $35M fund to help make farms safer in COVID-19 pandemic

The program will be applied retroactively to cover any COVID-19-related costs from March 15

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau rises during a sitting of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic in the House of Commons, in Ottawa, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
A huge blueberry harvesting machine like this one (not this exact one and these are not the suspects) was taken from a rural Abbotsford property over the weekend. (Facebook photo)

UPDATE: Massive blueberry harvester stolen from rural Fraser Valley property

A huge machine with a top speed of 15 kph was taken from an area near No. 3 road over the weekend

A huge blueberry harvesting machine like this one (not this exact one and these are not the suspects) was taken from a rural Abbotsford property over the weekend. (Facebook photo)
B.C. Liberal agriculture critic Ian Paton addresses farmers’ rally outside the B.C. legislature over housing restrictions, Oct. 28, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

Farmers call on B.C. NDP to allow more housing, business

Secondary homes, restaurants, rentals can keep farms viable

B.C. Liberal agriculture critic Ian Paton addresses farmers’ rally outside the B.C. legislature over housing restrictions, Oct. 28, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Onions. (Pikrepo)

B.C. imports 99 million kilos of American onions. Why?

About four per cent of the onions consumed in B.C. are grown in the province

  • Aug 18, 2020
Onions. (Pikrepo)
More than one million cartons, each containing a dozen eggs, will be redistributed via an emergency federal program designed to address a key challenge facing farmers: having too much food and nowhere to sell it. A farmer sorts through eggs as they exit the hen barn at an egg farm in West Lincoln, Ont., on Monday, March 7, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

Chicken, eggs both go first as feds roll out COVID-19 food surplus program

$50-million surplus food program was announced by the Liberal government earlier this year

More than one million cartons, each containing a dozen eggs, will be redistributed via an emergency federal program designed to address a key challenge facing farmers: having too much food and nowhere to sell it. A farmer sorts through eggs as they exit the hen barn at an egg farm in West Lincoln, Ont., on Monday, March 7, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power
(The Canadian Press)

Farmers contest minister’s claim that grain-farmers’ carbon costs are tiny

The carbon tax is being rebated 100 per cent to households and through the Climate Action Incentive Fund

(The Canadian Press)
Cattle graze in a field at Arrowvale Farm and Campground on Hector Road near Port Alberni, B.C. (MIKE YOUDS/ Special to the News)

Island region one of three granted small-scale slaughter licensing status

Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District farmers can now apply for abattoir licence

Cattle graze in a field at Arrowvale Farm and Campground on Hector Road near Port Alberni, B.C. (MIKE YOUDS/ Special to the News)