JULY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Policy shifts top ranchers’ list of


concerns Water, First Nations initiatives are key issues for producers


by TOM WALKER


WILLIAMS LAKE—Record attendance of more than 400 people turned out for the 91st annual general meeting of the BC Cattlemen’s Association in Williams Lake on May 24-25. “We are changing the way


we tell our story,” president Larry Garrett said in his president’s report during the business meeting, adding that the entire association is favouring a more proactive approach. “We are going to a lot of meetings and using terms like biodiversity and ecosystem restoration.” Garett says he thinks that all the travelling to meetings is paying off.


“I used to think that things


like BC Beef Day were a waste of time,” he says. “But we are getting reports back that we are making headway. People are starting to listen to us.” The environment has


always been a key issue for ranchers, but connecting with people in the cities of southern BC drives that message home. “People down south care about a lot of things, but not necessarily the grass like we do,” Garrett notes. “Sometimes I think we are the only people left who are going to provide habitat for species that are losing numbers.”


Water issues


BCCA general manager Kevin Boon cited livestock watering regulations and relations with First Nations as the year’s top concerns in his report. “Right now the highest


priority for the industry is to have workable livestock watering regulations,” he says. “I can’t support the direction that this is going right now.” Despite a decade of negotiations with ranchers, public feedback to an intentions paper published in January 2018 is prompting the province to change details of the proposed livestock watering regulations. (A final draft has yet to be published.) “We are going to have to


draw a line in the sand. Without water, that grass out there has no value. This is simply not good enough for our members,” says Boon. While legislation such as


the Water Sustainability Act and Forest and Range Practices Act were written first and regulations followed, he thinks the two have to be part of a coordinated process. “We used to develop the


broader act first and then work the details out in regulations,” he explains. “I don’t think we can do that anymore; we have to get the act right first.”


fencefast.ca 877-383-3623


MIX OR MATCH


WEIGHING & EID EQUIPMENT OFFER


SAVE 20%


When you purchase 3 eligible pieces.


OFFER EXCLUDES W110, W210, CORDS & POWER SUPPLIES. VISIT US AT FENCEFAST.CA TO LEARN MORE!


In partnership with:


21


Winner! Winner!


4-H BC’s fund development co-ordinator Belinda Field, left, can hardly contain her excitement as Deb Goertzen hands Cathy McLeod, MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, one of two winning tickets on John Deere Gators at PrairieCoast Equipment in Kamloops, June 8. Winners Jacky Ogloff from Grand Forks and Rob Dion of Kelowna were drawn from 8,000 tickets sold province-wide. [CATHY GLOVER PHOTO]


Boon says there have been instances where government staff have said a regulation can’t be written a certain way because it would contravene legislation. Water sub-committee chair Linda Allison outlined the difficulties with finalizing livestock watering regulations. “Ten years ago, the atmosphere around livestock watering was positive,” she says. “But there has been a real attitude adjustment.” She says the province needs to uphold the consensus built with the old staff over the past decade.


See CATTLEMEN on next page o


Producer Check-off Supports Beef Industry Projects.


www.cattlefund.net 1.877.688.2333


PROVINCIAL LIVESTOCK FENCING PROGRAM Applications Close:


September 30, 2019 View program updates at


cattlemen.bc.ca/fencing.htm


Office: 1.778.412.7000 Toll Free: 1.866.398.2848 email: fencebc@gmail.com


PICK 3 ANY COMBINATION


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44