This is the final instalment of a three-part series looking at the role women play in agriculture. This week we feature the career of the new chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission, Patti Miller.
This is the third of a four-part series looking at the role women play in agriculture, how it has changed and what the future holds. Patti Miller has never been one to stand still. In the constantly evolving agriculture industry, Miller herself evolves, periodically reinventing her career from market analyst to private sector corporate affairs […] Read moreStories by Terry Fries
Women in agriculture
This is the second of a four-part series looking at the role women play in agriculture, how it has changed and what the future holds. In Alberta, a woman sets up a Facebook group to provide a forum for women working in agriculture and within two weeks the group has 2,000 participants. In Saskatchewan, a […] Read more
Fraser Valley farming faces flood risk due to climate change
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — A new study raises alarms about potential high agricultural damages should peak water flows on the Fraser River increase as some climate change models predict. A report published by the Fraser Valley Regional District and British Columbia Agriculture and Food Climate Change Initiative calculated flood losses for three scenarios: ■ a flood […] Read more
Women in agriculture
This is the first of a three-part series looking at the role women play in agriculture, how it has changed and what the future holds.
This is the first of a four-part series looking at the role women play in agriculture, how it has changed and what the future holds. SUMMERLAND, B.C. — When Iris Meck got a management job right out of university in 1978, she didn’t consider it a big deal. Yet by joining the Cargill management team, […] Read more
Message in a bottle: detecting bird flu
Genome project gathers samples of bird feces, wetland sediment and water to test for viruses and provide early warning
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — Scientists hope that a new system of detecting and identifying avian influenza viruses will lead to a new warning system that better protects poultry farmers. A pilot project that explored molecular and genomic methods to detect and identify virus types during the avian influenza outbreak of 2014-15 found traditional testing methods fall […] Read more
Hops business keeps family farm alive
The farm has been in the family since the 1930s and the rising cost of land meant finding higher returns per acre
Dwayne Stewart returned home to Abbottsford, B.C., with a plan. He was going to try and save the family farm. However, his idea to grow hops probably raised more than a few eyebrows. Hops weren’t exactly a common sight in the region, or anywhere in the province for that matter. “Not only was there not […] Read moreB.C. municipalities wrestle with ‘mega-mansions’ on farmland
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — The British Columbia government says there is a ready-made solution for municipalities in the province’s Lower Mainland that are wrestling with how to control development on land in the Agricultural Land Reserve. “We have a Minister’s Bylaw Standard. It gives local governments a ready-to-use model that restricts building large residential homes in […] Read more
It’s like a man purse: workshop to go
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — We’ve all been there. Head out across the yard to do equipment maintenance, lugging the tools we think we’ll need for the job, but we barely get started and we discover we need a different tool. So we trudge back across the yard to retrieve the item we need. Hopefully, that will […] Read more
Seeder maker receives federal funding
BURNABY, B.C. — Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies Ltd. has received $425,000 from the federal government to help develop a new no-till seeding system, the CX-6 SMART Seeder. The funding is designed to enable Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies Ltd. to use its patented technology to enhance application control, reduce the over-application of fertilizer and pesticides and […] Read more
Wine makers impressed with 2016 quality
Vineyard saw good moisture, little disease pressure and fewer forest fire problems that can affect grape flavour
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — The 2016 grape harvest should have wine-makers smiling throughout the Okanagan Valley. The early start to vine growth, as well as close to ideal temperatures and moisture conditions, have vineyards looking forward to producing good vintages. “Honestly, the harvest, from the south end of the valley to the north, has been pretty […] Read more
