NOVEMBER 2016 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Water workshop for farmers by TAMARA LEIGH
ABBOTSFORD – Farmers in the Fraser Valley will have an opportunity to receive valuable information on a range of water-related topics by attending the Fraser Valley Agricultural Water
Management Symposium on Thursday, November 17. This free event will provide information about how to optimize water use and improve drainage.
“The workshop is unique as it will include information on all aspects of agricultural water management, from supply to irrigation and drainage, and there will be break-out sessions featuring specific information for berry growers, landscape and nursery operations and the dairy sector,” says Emily MacNair, manager of the BC Agriculture & Food Climate Action Initiative. The workshop is identified as a priority project in the Fraser
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any kind of equipment working around a wetland, people are on the phone.” “For the most part, it is really just changing the culture,” says Cashin.
“Reminding people that these beautiful vistas we see is farm land and it’s what makes Kelowna great.”
Kelowna is in the midst of drawing up a new agriculture plan and Cashin says that will help with the “culture” he
talks about.
“Absolutely something has got to change or we aren’t going to be a farm
community. It’s just going to be estate lot after estate lot with somebody mowing $2,500 worth of alfalfa every year just to keep the farm status,” he warns. ”If that is what we want to do, great, but I don’t think that’s what our community needs in the future. We need local food.”
100% Canadian Owned and Operated
•Livestock Feed •Fertilizer • Grass Seed • Pet Food & Accessories • Fencing • Farm Hardware • Chemicals . . . . and a whole lot more
Valley Adaptation Strategies plan, released in the summer of 2015. During the development of the plan, producers highlighted information gaps around the future of agricultural water in the Fraser Valley and raised concerns about the changing regulatory context governing water use, as well as the ways that climate change might influence both supply and demand of water during the agricultural production season.
Producers can register for the workshop online at: [https://fraservalleyagricultura
lwater.eventbrite.ca].
Funding for this workshop is provided in part by the governments of Canada and British Columbia through the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC and the BC Agricultural Research & Development Corporation under Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
From page 12
Fruit growers offered incentive to improve food safety training
by TOM WALKER
KELOWNA – Members of the BC Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA) will get an incentive to help cover the costs of participating in food safety programs thanks to a recent dividend from Summerland Varieties Corporation (SVC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the BCFGA.
As growers themselves, the BCFGA executive has direct
Worst nightmare
experience with food safety programs.
“We know the cost, effort and occasional frustration of implementing food safety programs on the farm,” says BCFGA president Fred Steele. “At the same time we recognize the benefit of food safety in giving confidence and promoting our apples, cherries and soft fruit.” BCFGA members will
receive a one time payment of $425 to help cover the costs of enrolling in a food safety program such as CanadaGAP (Good Agriculture Practices). “We feel that giving the
grower a one-time break by providing an incentive will strengthen our industry’s commitment to food safety,” says Steele.
Costs for a program like GAP can range for $425 (the minimum yearly fee for members of BC Tree Fruit Co- operative under a group plan) to several thousand dollars per year paid to other accrediting bodies. Programs also require significant amounts of time and often lead to changes to farm practices and record keeping. While a grower will have toilet facilities, a new certification
13
Fire crews were still mopping up after an early morning barn fire just hours before the farm was set to host the North Okanagan Plowing Match in Armstrong, October 1. No one and no livestock was hurt in the fire that destroyed one barn. (Naomi McGeachy photo)
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