SUMMERLAND, B.C. — Okanagan tree fruit growers have been handed a new tool to help them better adjust to potential climate change effects. Growers in the Okanagan Valley will be able to access a pest management decision-making database, originally developed at Washington State University and adapted for conditions north of the border. Melissa Tesche, acting […] Read more
Stories by Terry Fries
Larger apples could boost B.C. yields
Growers say they’re pleased with overall yield, fruit size and colour of this year’s apple crop
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — Final numbers for the British Columbia apple crop aren’t in yet, but the province’s fruit growers association is thinking big. “It looks like the size is above average so far,” said Glen Lucas, general manager of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association in Kelowna. He said the overall yield will also be above […] Read moreEarly harvest complicates fruit marketing in B.C.
SUMMERLAND, B.C. — Harvest came early this year for most tree fruit in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. That normally wouldn’t be a problem given good quality and strong yields, but it does create unique challenges. For cherries, that meant having to pass on sales into markets that normally buy late season varieties. “The season was […] Read more
News editor says goodbye to WP readers
I feel a pang of sadness as I write this — this will be my last Notebook column. Actually, after 22 years at The Western Producer, it’s only my second Notebook column so come to think of it, it’s about time they loosened their sleeper hold on it anyway. Jokes aside, I am moving on […] Read more
Farmer group disputes reports that Canada set to welcome more U.S. dairy products
Saskatoon newsroom A Dairy Farmers of Canada official has cast doubt on reports that Canada has offered more access to American dairy products at the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks. Isabelle Bouchard, director of communications, said the rumours that Canada could grant 10 percent access to U.S. dairy products without equal access for Canadian products into […] Read more
Thrilling tales of farming in the rain forest
I recently visited the edge of the continent, Haida Gwaii, and was surprised to see and read of such a rich agricultural history in a place so removed from the usual hot spots of farming. Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago of two large islands and 150 smaller ones […] Read more
Higher risk makes succession planning vital
BRANDON — Rising farmland values and wildly fluctuating commodity prices are making it risky for the next generation to take over the family farm, said Peter Manness, a farm business consultant with Meyers Norris Penny. Speaking to a crowd of about 50 at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon yesterday, Manness said high land prices make […] Read more
What would we do without Jake?
Terry Fries is copy editor of the Western Producer. As a kinder, gentler-to-those-who-think-like-us New World Order cocoons the planet in a fuzzy warm glow of harmonic trading blocks, we must bow humbly and thank our Wal-Mart credit cards that Cold War traditionalists are standing guard at the gates. Forget love, sweet love. What the world […] Read more
