Farming

File - Members of Communist Party of India shout slogans during a protest against farm laws in Mumbai, India Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, has said his government will withdraw the controversial farm laws that were met with year-long demonstrations from tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws will shatter their livelihoods. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Bowing to protests, India’s prime minister agrees to repeal farm laws

Narendra Modi’s announcement in a national address comes ahead of elections early next year

File - Members of Communist Party of India shout slogans during a protest against farm laws in Mumbai, India Monday, Sept. 27, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, has said his government will withdraw the controversial farm laws that were met with year-long demonstrations from tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws will shatter their livelihoods. The drawn-out demonstrations have posed one of the biggest political challenges to Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
Calf houses float in the flood waters in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

Thousands of animals, livestock have perished in B.C.’s historic flooding: Agriculture Minister

BCSPCA on standby to help farmers, livestock

Calf houses float in the flood waters in Abbotsford, B.C., Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Avtar Dhillon is having success growing saffron flowers on his Abbotsford blueberry farm. The stigmas are removed from the plants, dried out and sold as a spice for cooking and other purposes. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

Abbotsford farmer among first in B.C. to grow and harvest ‘world’s most expensive spice’

Avtar Dhillon has success with saffron, normally produced in arid climates

Avtar Dhillon is having success growing saffron flowers on his Abbotsford blueberry farm. The stigmas are removed from the plants, dried out and sold as a spice for cooking and other purposes. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
Local growers, 65 in total, attended a meeting in Osoyoos on Monday, Nov. 1 to express their rejection of a proposed apple market commission. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)

Okanagan fruit growers overwhelmingly reject attempt to set up apple market commission

Meetings in Keremeos and Osoyoos met with overwhelming rejection from growers

Local growers, 65 in total, attended a meeting in Osoyoos on Monday, Nov. 1 to express their rejection of a proposed apple market commission. (Brennan Phillips - Western News)
Dairy cows feed in a barn on a farm in eastern Ontario on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Abbotsford dairy farm has licence suspended amid allegations of animal abuse

BC SPCA is conducting an investigation after receiving video footage of ‘very serious instances’

Dairy cows feed in a barn on a farm in eastern Ontario on Wednesday, April 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Jackie Zawacky, left, Justin Koshman and Sue Rempel hold some of the many pumpkins at The Apple Barn in Summerland. Pumpkin pie is a traditional part of Thanksgiving dinner, and pumpkins carved as Jack O’Lanterns are popular at Halloween. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)

Pumpkins celebrated at Summerland farm

Billy Boerboom has been growing some massive pumpkins this year

Jackie Zawacky, left, Justin Koshman and Sue Rempel hold some of the many pumpkins at The Apple Barn in Summerland. Pumpkin pie is a traditional part of Thanksgiving dinner, and pumpkins carved as Jack O’Lanterns are popular at Halloween. (John Arendt - Summerland Review)
Stu Smith at the Stoke the Fire table at the Revelstoke farmers market. (Josh Piercey/Revelstoke Review)

‘The right veggie for the end of the world’: Hot pepper farmers weather a challenging summer

Stu Smith and Sarah Harper look back on the harvest season of 2021

Stu Smith at the Stoke the Fire table at the Revelstoke farmers market. (Josh Piercey/Revelstoke Review)
A farmer harvests her hay on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. Livestock producers in Saskatchewan facing hot, dry conditions this growing season and a feed shortage have another problem to contend with -- hay fraud. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

RCMP warn of rise in hay fraud in Saskatchewan

High demand for hay this year is fuelling the scam

A farmer harvests her hay on a farm near Cremona, Alta., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. Livestock producers in Saskatchewan facing hot, dry conditions this growing season and a feed shortage have another problem to contend with -- hay fraud. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Booming grasshopper populations plague Prairie farmers

Higher than usual number of grasshoppers inhabiting grassy areas and feasting on crops

A two striped grasshopper infected with Entomophaga grylli, a fungal pathogen which only kills grasshoppers, is seen on a plant near Lethbridge, Alta., in a July 2021 handout photo. A pattern of dry, hot weather across the Prairies over the past few years has resulted in a grasshopper infestation of epic proportions, with some experts saying the nuisance is negatively affecting every part of the agriculture industry. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Dan Johnson, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
On Aug. 3, Pender Island residents Chris Hall and Stef Lowey will have officially completed a year of only eating what they can grow, harvest, catch or raise themselves. (Courtesy of Chris Hall and Stef Lowey)

From salt to stevia: B.C. couple nears full year without buying food

Pender Island’s Chris Hall and Stef Lowey have produced everything they’ve eaten since Aug. 3, 2020

On Aug. 3, Pender Island residents Chris Hall and Stef Lowey will have officially completed a year of only eating what they can grow, harvest, catch or raise themselves. (Courtesy of Chris Hall and Stef Lowey)
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham. (Screen shot)

Government to allow ‘more residential flexibility’ in agricultural lands, says B.C. minister

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham was guest speaker Friday during Surrey Board of Trade-hosted Zoom meeting

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham. (Screen shot)
Farm hand Connor Hunt bales a hay crop near Cremona, Alta., Monday, July 17, 2017. Farmers are calling for emergency relief as drought ravages crops across the Prairie provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Prairie farmers pray for rain as drought, grasshoppers ravage crops and pastures

Scorching temperatures have left crops in poor condition across wide swaths of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

Farm hand Connor Hunt bales a hay crop near Cremona, Alta., Monday, July 17, 2017. Farmers are calling for emergency relief as drought ravages crops across the Prairie provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A North Okanagan organization has expressed serious concerns about the living conditions for migrant farm workers during the recent heat wave. from (Canadian Press file photo)

Heat wave: Okanagan group concerned about ‘miserable’ conditions for migrant workers

Radical Action with Migrants in Agriculture said farmworkers are living in houses unequipped to withstand the record temperatures

A North Okanagan organization has expressed serious concerns about the living conditions for migrant farm workers during the recent heat wave. from (Canadian Press file photo)
Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Vancouver Island farmers face significant crop losses due to excessive heat

Berry patches suffer extensive damage, but high temperatures a benefit for corn growers

Tom Michell of Michell’s Farm outside Victoria shows damage that heat caused on his raspberry crop. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Matt and Kim Van Rookhuyzen, with their children Nolan and Bentley, run Reverent Acres water buffalo farm in Yankee Flats. (Alpine Wildbloom Images photo)

Shuswap farm family finds happiness among water buffalo

Kim and Matt Van Rookhuyzen run Reverent Acres farm in Yankee Flats

Matt and Kim Van Rookhuyzen, with their children Nolan and Bentley, run Reverent Acres water buffalo farm in Yankee Flats. (Alpine Wildbloom Images photo)
BX-Swan Lake firefighters responded to reports of a wildfire Tuesday, June 22, 2021. (Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star)

Small fire sparks fear in Vernon homeowner

BX-Swan Lake firefighters respond to reports of wildfire

BX-Swan Lake firefighters responded to reports of a wildfire Tuesday, June 22, 2021. (Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star)
Fruit farmers in the Okanagan and Creston valleys are in desperate need of cherry harvesters amid COVID-19 work shortages. (Photo: Unsplash/Abigail Miller)

‘Desperate’ need for workers at Okanagan cherry farms

Fruit farmers are worried they’ll have to abandon crops due to COVID-19 work shortages

Fruit farmers in the Okanagan and Creston valleys are in desperate need of cherry harvesters amid COVID-19 work shortages. (Photo: Unsplash/Abigail Miller)
Keremeos’ weather patterns are very unique. The village is often hotter and more arid than Penticton in the summer and experiences more extreme winters with more snowfall, while being warmer than Princeton in the winter due to its lower elevation. (Keith Ryan/Flickr)

What will the weather be like tomorrow in Keremeos? No one really knows for sure

The village, based largely on farming, has been without an Environment Canada weather station since 2000

Keremeos’ weather patterns are very unique. The village is often hotter and more arid than Penticton in the summer and experiences more extreme winters with more snowfall, while being warmer than Princeton in the winter due to its lower elevation. (Keith Ryan/Flickr)
Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canadian farmers have spring in their step from strongest commodity prices in years

Canola recently hit a 13-year peak after stubbornly low prices, gaining 52 per cent year-to-date

Pumpjacks draw oil out of the ground as a deer stands in a canola field near Olds, Alta., Thursday, July 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A mink sniffs the air as he surveys the river beach in search of food, in meadow near the village of Khatenchitsy, 65 kilometres northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 4, 2015. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is the latest group to speak out against mink farming in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Sergei Grits

Union of BC Indian Chiefs latest group to call for moratorium on B.C. mink farming

With other countries phasing out mink farming, time is now for province to follow suit, says union VP

A mink sniffs the air as he surveys the river beach in search of food, in meadow near the village of Khatenchitsy, 65 kilometres northwest of Minsk, Belarus on September 4, 2015. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is the latest group to speak out against mink farming in the province. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Sergei Grits