Farming

Harry Burton.  (photo by Burton)

250 and counting: Salt Spring man tries to keep apple varieties from going extinct

Local farmer looks to diversify apple availability in the name of good taste

  • May 30, 2023

 

Beekeepers tend to hives in 2020. Beekeepers, aquaculturalists and federally licensed marijuana and hemp growers can now apply for special funding to help protect against extreme heat. (Chelsea Thomsen/Special to Black Press)

Province expands extreme weather funding program to include beekeepers, pot growers

Growers can apply for up to $35,000 in cost-sharing program to protect against heat, floods, fire

 

The historic Stewart farmhouse had the wood stove burning for guests on Monday (May 22) who toured the 1880s Victorian home. (Tricia Weel photo)

Historic farmhouse a favourite grey-Victoria Day visit in South Surrey

Guests learned how lives were lived in the 1880s – and how old-fashioned telephones worked

 

The second annual B.C. Cannabis Summit was hosted in Kelowna April 21-23, 2023. (Brittany Webster/Capital News)

B.C. Cannabis Summit blunt and blazing the way for a better legal market

The summit was held at Kelowna’s Eldorado Hotel and Manteo Resort

The second annual B.C. Cannabis Summit was hosted in Kelowna April 21-23, 2023. (Brittany Webster/Capital News)
Several members of the Hopcott family, which runs Hopcott Farms in Pitt Meadows, were selected as the BC Outstanding Young Farmers of 2023. (Hopcott Farms/Special to The News)

Lower Mainland family declared BC Outstanding Young Farmers of 2023

The Hopcott siblings will be competing for the national title later this year

Several members of the Hopcott family, which runs Hopcott Farms in Pitt Meadows, were selected as the BC Outstanding Young Farmers of 2023. (Hopcott Farms/Special to The News)
A petition to the federal government aims to ban cephalopod farms in Canada. (Credit: Pixabay)

There are no octopus farms in Canada. BC SPCA, experts call on feds to keep it that way

Experts say practice not only morally questionable, but environmentally destructive too

A petition to the federal government aims to ban cephalopod farms in Canada. (Credit: Pixabay)
Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food (left) was taken on a tour of Lucent BioSciences Inc. at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby on March 15, as part of an announcement for funding for clean tech farming projects in B.C. (Government of Canada photo)

4 B.C. agri-businesses awarded $1.6M in federal funding for clean-technology projects

Projects designed to reduce runoff, get farms further off the grid and reduce fuel consumption

Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food (left) was taken on a tour of Lucent BioSciences Inc. at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby on March 15, as part of an announcement for funding for clean tech farming projects in B.C. (Government of Canada photo)
Screenshot of released Meadow Valley Meats video (Animal Justice Canada/Screenshot of video)

BC SPCA reiterates calls for provincial action on slaughterhouses amid Pitt Meadows probe

Animal Justice Canada released footage of Meadow Valley Meats and the BC SPCA is investigating

Screenshot of released Meadow Valley Meats video (Animal Justice Canada/Screenshot of video)
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)
Cattle roam in a field near Pigeon Lake, Alta., on May 1, 2022. Experts say an uptick in extreme weather, such as drought, is leading beef farmers in the U.S. and Canada to thin their herds in near-record numbers, which could lead to supply problems in the beef industry over the longer term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Extreme drought makes cattle farmers thin herds, could cause future supply problems

Climate change likely to increase drought conditions over time in Canada and U.S.

Cattle roam in a field near Pigeon Lake, Alta., on May 1, 2022. Experts say an uptick in extreme weather, such as drought, is leading beef farmers in the U.S. and Canada to thin their herds in near-record numbers, which could lead to supply problems in the beef industry over the longer term. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
File photo: Sobia Moman

Surrey council supports moving huge tract of farmland into ALR

Coun. Mike Bose said a vote against this would be ‘a vote against food security in Western Canada’

File photo: Sobia Moman
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)
The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley campus auditorium was packed with people Monday night for an Agricultural Land Commission meeting, with the vast majority in support of including South Surrey farm land into the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve. (Tricia Weel photo)

Overwhelming support at public meeting for including South Surrey farm land in ALR

‘If we were to pave over this, we pave over part of who we are’: MLA Elenore Sturko

The Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley campus auditorium was packed with people Monday night for an Agricultural Land Commission meeting, with the vast majority in support of including South Surrey farm land into the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve. (Tricia Weel photo)
Otter Co-op CEO Jack Nicholson says the money stays in the community and recipients are free to spend the cash as they choose.

Backlash for ALC after rejecting application to replace old Otter Co-op

B.C. farmer was denied chance to replace the Pitt Meadows store after 2022 closure

Otter Co-op CEO Jack Nicholson says the money stays in the community and recipients are free to spend the cash as they choose.
Tyler Heppell stands in the middle of a field at his family’s South Surrey farm. (Sobia Moman photo)

South Surrey farmer hopes upcoming public hearing will help protect land from development

Agricultural Land Commission proposal includes Heppell farm in the ALR

Tyler Heppell stands in the middle of a field at his family’s South Surrey farm. (Sobia Moman photo)
Surrey Art Gallery presents Cindy Mochizuki’s “Autumn Strawberry (Dance Film)” from Dec. 9 to April 30, 2023. Admission is free. (Submitted photo courtesy SAG)

Wartime internment ‘Autumn Strawberry’ dance film 3 years in the making at Surrey Art Gallery

Artist Cindy Mochizuki worked with descendants of Japanese-Canadian families who owned farms in Strawberry Hill, other areas

Surrey Art Gallery presents Cindy Mochizuki’s “Autumn Strawberry (Dance Film)” from Dec. 9 to April 30, 2023. Admission is free. (Submitted photo courtesy SAG)
White Spot executive chef James Kennedy will be co-hosting the Dec. 6 online cook-along event. (BCAITC/Special to The News)

B.C. chefs host free online cook-along with White Spot

The Dec. 6 event uses local ingredients and teaches home cooks how to make two different dishes

White Spot executive chef James Kennedy will be co-hosting the Dec. 6 online cook-along event. (BCAITC/Special to The News)
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)
Cops found most of the cash lost by Chilliwack farmer who was going to purchase blackbelly sheep with it. (Sheri Elgersma photo)

Cops for Cancer team finds $2,350 in cash lost by would-be sheep farmer in Chilliwack

Cyclists managed to corral 23 $100 bills meant to purchase blackbelly sheep

Cops found most of the cash lost by Chilliwack farmer who was going to purchase blackbelly sheep with it. (Sheri Elgersma photo)
The day at the farm at Westham Island Herb Farm in Delta on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Photo: Anna Burns)

PHOTOS: Picking potatoes, hay rides and more during Delta’s ‘Day at the Farm’

Thousands attended Delta’s ‘Day at the Farm’ at Westham Island Herb Farm…

The day at the farm at Westham Island Herb Farm in Delta on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (Photo: Anna Burns)